Kerry meets Karzai to Talk on Afghan-US security agreement

KABUL: (MEP) – According to the latest reports, progress have been noted Afghan-US two-sided security treaty discussions after US Secretary of State John Kerry met with president Hamid Karzai.

US Secretary of State, John Kerry met with president Hamid Karzai on Saturday after progress was made during his meeting with Karzai on Friday evening, Khaama reported.

John Kerry is on an official visit to Afghanistan to hold urgent talks on bilateral security agreement between the two nations as the deadline to finalize the deal by the end of October looms.

A US official quoted by AFP on Friday said that the tone of negotiations was constructive, and the differences that exist were narrowed on the vast majority of the outstanding issues.

Spokesman for President Hamid Karzai following the conversation late Friday also said that negotiations over the security pact had advanced.

This comes as Afghan president Hamid Karzai earlier this week said that he was prepared to walk away from negotiations on the security deal if the conditions of the Afghan government were not met.

Aimal Faizi, spokesman for president Hamid Karzai earlier this month confirmed that sticking points in negotiations include Washington’s demand for unilateral and independent counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan beyond 2014 is one of the main disputes between the two nations.

Mr. Faizi further added that the Washington’s refusal on Afghan government’s demand to agree to wide-reaching promise to protect Afghanistan from foreign aggression is the other main dispute between Afghan and US officials discussing bilateral security agreement.