Author Topic: U.S.-Afghan officials near a deal on American troops  (Read 730 times)

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Offline EC

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U.S.-Afghan officials near a deal on American troops
« on: October 13, 2013, 03:47:59 am »
Via CBS: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57607264/u.s.-afghan-officials-near-a-deal-on-american-troops/

Quote
KABUL, Afghanistan The U.S. and Afghanistan reached an agreement in principle Saturday on the major elements of a deal that would allow American troops to stay in Afghanistan after 2014. U.S. officials said the potentially deal-breaking issue of jurisdiction over those forces must still be resolved.

U.S. officials traveling with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the deal negotiated with Afghan President Hamid Karzai meets all American conditions, including on the jurisdiction issue, and that all that remains is for Karzai to win political approval for it.

During the talks, Kerry made frequent phone calls back to Washington, speaking with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and national security adviser Susan Rice multiple times, the officials said.

The American contingent was hopeful that a national consultative assembly of tribal elders, or Loya Jirga, and the Afghan parliament would approve the agreement, the officials said. They requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the agreement by name.

Kerry spoke with Karzai after a marathon series of meetings and repeated delays of Kerry's departure from Afghanistan. Both men later said agreement had been reached on a series of contentious sovereignty issues and the safety of Afghan citizens at the hands of American and allied troops that had deadlocked talks in the past year.

But Karzai said he would punt the issue of who has jurisdiction for any crimes committed by U.S. forces in Afghanistan after 2014 to the Loya Jirga that he has asked to be convened within a month. Their opinion on whether to approve or disapprove an American demand that its forces be remanded to U.S. military courts would then be sent to the Afghan parliament.

Kerry responded that any decision made by the Loya Jirga and parliament would be respected, but he added that if the jurisdiction issue was not resolved there would be no agreement.

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