Abdullah Abdullah hoping third time's a charm in Afghan vote

Anti-Taliban resistance veteran faces off against old rival Ashraf Ghani in election on Saturday

Abdullah Abdullah has spent more than a decade trying to become Afghanistan's president, contesting three separate votes and coming within touching distance in 2014 before watching the prize slip from his grasp.

In most other countries, repeated high-profile losses would almost certainly spell the end of a political career, despite Abdullah's credentials from years serving with the anti-Soviet and anti-Taliban resistance and later in government.