The FINANCIAL -- WASHINGTON, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States hopes that Abdullah Abdullah will continue to participate in Afghanistan's national dialogue despite pulling out of the presidential runoff.

"I recognize the decision by Dr. Abdullah Abdullah not to participate in the second round of balloting in the Afghan presidential elections," Clinton said in a statement, adding that the former Afghan foreign minister "ran a dignified and constructive campaign that drew the support of Afghan people across the nation."

"We hope that he will continue to stay engaged in the national dialogue, and work on behalf of the security and prosperity of the people of Afghanistan," she said.

Clinton said the U.S. "will support the next president and the people of Afghanistan, who seek and deserve a better future," adding "it is now a matter for the Afghan authorities to decide on a way ahead that brings this electoral process to a conclusion in line with the Afghan constitution."

Clinton said earlier the Afghan elections would be legitimate even if Abdullah boycotted the runoff poll.

Abdullah, who is the only challenger of Afghan incumbent president Hamid Karzai in the November 7 runoff, announced on Sunday that he would not take part due to the president's refusal to dismiss the nation's top election official and take other action to prevent fraud.

The second round of voting was scheduled after Karzai, who was officially given 54.6% of the first-round vote, bowed to international pressure and accepted the findings of the UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission, which said the election was tainted by wide-scale fraud and no candidate had received over 50% of the vote, the threshold for automatic victory.

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