REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, KABUL - The United Nations threatened on Saturday to cut aid to Afghanistan if its staff are harassed, responding to tensions surrounding its participation in a drawn-out and bitter investigation into fraud in the still-unresolved presidential election.

The warning came a day after dozens of demonstrators gathered outside the Kabul headquarters of the world body and accused it of aiding vote-rigging. It was another sign of heightened anxiety in the run-up to the release of final election results over the next week. A two-month-long crisis over results of the vote to succeed President Hamid Karzai has been destabilizing Afghanistan just months before most international troops withdraw.

The UN has been monitoring a vote-rigging investigation since both candidates - former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah and ex-Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani - each claimed victory and accused the other of fraud in early July.

UN workers have frequently been caught up in heated disputes by the rival candidates' audit observers. After Friday's small demonstration, which was peaceful but also featured chants of "Death to the UN," the world body apparently decided to draw a line.

"Intimidation and verbal attacks directed at #UN are unacceptable," said a tweet by the official UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan on Saturday.

A second post continued: "If such abuse continues, #UN will be forced to severely limit its activities, reducing its assistance to #Afghanistan and its people."

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