Afghan-US deal falters as Karzai demands Taliban talks
25 Jan AFP
President Hamid Karzai on Saturday signalled that a deal to allow US
troops to stay in Afghanistan was close to collapse as the NATO combat
mission withdraws after a decade of fighting the Taliban.
Late last year, Karzai made a surprise decision not to promptly sign
the bilateral security agreement (BSA) with the US, despite a “loya
jirga” national assembly voting for him to do so.
Washington has become increasingly frustrated by Karzai's
manoeuvreing over the deal, stressing that negotiations were completed
in November and that it is ready to sign the mutually agreed text.
“Afghanistan will absolutely not accept or sign anything under
pressure,” Karzai told reporters in Kabul.
“If they want to leave, then they go and we will continue our
lives... Our main condition is the practical start of peace process.”
The US had earlier pushed for the BSA to be signed by the end of October
so that the NATO military coalition could schedule the withdrawal of its
troops by the end of this year.
But the deadline has slipped as Karzai refused to sign and even
suggested that his successor could make the final decision after
presidential elections due on April 5.
Karzai on Saturday repeated that before he signs the BSA, the US must
foster a genuine peace process with the Taliban militants and also stop
military operations.
“The start of a peace process would mean that no foreigners can
benefit from the continuation of war,” Karzai said.
About 58,000 NATO-led combat troops still in Afghanistan are due to
leave by the end of 2014.
Washington is proposing about 10,000 US soldiers are deployed from
2015 to train and assist Afghan security forces in their battle against
the Taliban militants.
A Taliban office in Qatar that opened last June was meant to lead to
peace talks, but instead it enraged Karzai after it was styled as an
embassy for a government-in-exile.
Afghan officials dismiss the possibility that the US may enact the
“zero option” of a complete troop pull-out as it did in Iraq, which is
currently suffering a surge in bloody sectarian violence. |