KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A spokesman for Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah says he has pulled his observers from an audit of the country's disputed election over concerns of widespread fraud.

Fazel Sancharaki said Wednesday that the process was "full of fraud."

Liam McDowall, a spokesman for the United Nations in Kabul, confirmed that there had been a "temporary pause" in the audit process but said monitors did not anticipate it would be a significant disruption.

Abdullah's decision to pull observers from the process throws what has already been a lengthy and contentious process into further turmoil.

Under a U.S.-brokered plan, all the eight million ballots from the country's June presidential runoff are being audited for fraud.

But Abdullah's camp says they have concerns about fraud that are not being addressed in the audit.