US asks for security accord to be signed soon

KABUL: (MEP) – Jen Psaki, US state department spokeswoman said the United States wants President Karzai to uphold his end of the bargain and sign the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) as promptly as possible in a bid to legitimize a post-2014 US military presence in the country.

Expressing keen interest to sign the deal, Jen Psaki said, “we would like to sign and move forward as quickly as possible, and that is the message we continue to convey”. “The US and its NATO allies will not be in a position to plan for a post-2014 presence if the agreement is not signed soon,” Psaki maintained.

She also said that deferring the signing of the agreement endangered commitments for financial aid that NATO and other nations made at the Chicago and Tokyo conventions. “It also does not give the Afghan people the certainty that they need, keeping in mind that they are entering into an election season,” she added.

President Karzai in his last comment had clearly stated he would not sign the security accord with America and instead handed over the responsibility to the next President of the country.

Incidentally all the presidential contenders have announced their willingness to sign the security accord if they win the election.

In the meantime, President Karzai has once again urged America to target terrorist havens in Pakistan and not its villages.