24/08/2013 15:48
Afghanistan's Karzai says no rush to sign U.S. security pact
Afghanistan is in no rush to sign a pact with the United States setting out how many U.S. troops will stay after a NATO mission ends next year and may even delay a decision until after a presidential election, President Hamid Karzai said, according to Reuters.
Foreign combat troops are due to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014, when the NATO-led mission winds up and the responsibility for fighting Taliban insurgents is handed over to Afghan forces.
But NATO plans to keep a slimmed-down training and advisory mission in Afghanistan after 2014 although the United States and other NATO allies have been slow to provide detailed numbers of troops for the force.
The United States has been putting pressure on Afghanistan to finalize a bilateral security agreement (BSA), which will mandate how many, and where, U.S. soldiers will remain once the NATO mission ends.
"Although the Americans asked for October, we are not in a hurry and if the document is agreed upon during this government, good," Karzai told reporters at his Kabul palace on Saturday.
"And if not, the next president can discuss whether to or not to accept it."