US warns to pull out troops completely from Afghanistan

KABUL: (MEP) – The United States national security advisor Susan Rice told Afghan President, Hamid Karzai in capital city Kabul that a delay in signing a troubled security deal risked the US pulling troops out of the country completely next year.

The President of Afghanistan held talks with Rice in Kabul as he again delayed to sign a security deal with the United States until next April’s elections as even the Loya Jirga (tribal elders’ grand assembly) approved the pact.

The consultative Loya Jirga that concluded a meeting after four days on Sunday in capital city Kabul approved the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) with the United States with recommendations to sign it by the end of the year. The signing of the crucial security pact between the two countries will allow the US to keep its troops in Afghanistan after 2014 when NATO/ISAF led forces leave.

According to a White House Statement, Rice told Karzai, “Without a prompt signature, the US would have no choice but to initiate planning for a post-2014 future in which there would be no US or NATO troop presence in Afghanistan.” The statement further said, “Ambassador Rice stressed that deferring the signature of the agreement until after next year’s elections is not viable.” Rice’s trip to Afghanistan was planned before the latest setback for the BSA and she met with Karzai at the end of a three-day trip to Kabul as requested by the Afghan President. The White House statement said, “In response, President Karzai outlined new conditions for signing the agreement and indicated he is not prepared to sign the BSA promptly”, KUNA reported.

After a late night meeting at President Office, Karzai stressed his demands for, “no operations by foreign forces in residential areas, a sincere start of a peace process (with Taliban insurgents), and the holding of transparent elections.” President Karzai argued that Afghanistan needed more time to ensure that the United States was committed to peace in the country and stressed that the April 5 elections were a key date