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Afghan president in UK to discuss troop withdrawal Hamid Karzai and David Cameron sign Afghanistan agreement
(about 6 hours later)
Afghan President Hamid Karzai is in the UK to discuss the departure of British forces with PM David Cameron. The leaders of Afghanistan and Britain have signed an agreement on their countries' co-operation after UK combat troops leave Afghanistan in 2014.
The leaders will sign an agreement setting out how their two countries will work together after UK combat troops withdraw in 2014. President Hamid Karzai met Prime Minister David Cameron at his Buckinghamshire residence, Chequers.
The meeting follows France's announcement that it is bringing forward its troop withdrawal by one year, to the end of 2013. Mr Cameron said a "strong relationship" would remain after UK troops withdrew.
He said it would be "a relationship based on diplomacy, based on trade, based on our continued aid programme to help Afghans build a stronger country".
"The build-up of the Afghan National Army and Afghan Police Force is very much on target and that is going to be one of the keys to the future stability and security of Afghanistan," Mr Cameron said.
He spoke of the need for "strong Afghan democratic state".
Mr Karzai said the agreement was "one more step" in Britain's long-term commitment to Afghanistan. He said Britain had been Afghanistan's "steadfast friend", particularly over the past 10 years.
Speaking the day after the death of a UK soldier in Helmand province took Britain's military toll in Afghanistan to 397 since 2001, Mr Karzai said Britain had sacrificed "blood and treasure" in his country.
"The Afghan people recognise that, respect that and remember that".
Mr Karzai said Britain's continued help would move Afghanistan "towards becoming a fundamentally strong democratic state, free of terrorism".
"May I convey to the people of Britain the gratitude of the Afghan people for all that Britain has offered Afghanistan for having been ready to sacrifice and for having been ready to share Britain's hard-earned taxpayers' money with Afghanistan for the betterment of the Afghan life and for a better, more secure vision and - as a consequence - entire world."
Mr Cameron was also expected to have signed an agreement to build an officer training college in Afghanistan, based on the British Army's Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst.
Troop withdrawal
Mr Karzai's visit to the UK was his third stop after he held talks in Italy and France.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy earlier announced that France would bring forward its troop withdrawal by one year, to the end of 2013. It t followed the deaths of four French soldiers in Afghanistan's Kapisa province.
Mr Karzai said in Paris on Friday that Afghan troops would replace the French.Mr Karzai said in Paris on Friday that Afghan troops would replace the French.
He said: "France and other allied countries have helped Afghanistan considerably in the past 10 years. After meeting Mr Karzai at Chequers on Saturday, Mr Cameron said there would be opportunities for different countries to reduce their troop numbers by 2014 but he said it would depend on the transition process.
"Afghanistan, because of that help, is now ready to take more and more responsibility." "I don't want to see some sort of cliff edge in 2014 when all of the remaining troops come out at once but clearly, between now and 2014, the rate at which we can reduce our troops will depend on the transition to Afghan control in the different parts of Afghanistan and that should be the same for all of the members of Nato who are all contributing and helping to a strong, stable and peaceful Afghanistan, which is in all our interests."
The BBC's world affairs correspondent, David Loyn, says Britain has twice as many troops in Afghanistan as any other European nation but not enough to fill the gap left by the French.The BBC's world affairs correspondent, David Loyn, says Britain has twice as many troops in Afghanistan as any other European nation but not enough to fill the gap left by the French.
Mr Karzai will meet the prime minister at his official country residence, Chequers, in Buckinghamshire.
The UK will be the third stop comes after Mr Karzai visited Italy and France.
Our correspondent says Mr Karzai will brief Mr Cameron on the state of peace talks with the Taliban, which are just starting.
Mr Cameron is expected to sign an agreement to build an officer training college in Afghanistan, based on the British Army's Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst.
The agreement will also commit Britain to continue providing aid support for Afghanistan after British combat troops withdraw.
Mr Sarkozy announcement came after the deaths of four French soldiers in Kapisa province.
France currently has about 3,600 soldiers in Afghanistan.France currently has about 3,600 soldiers in Afghanistan.
Paris wants to bring home 1,000 of its soldiers this year, with only a few hundred left after 2013.Paris wants to bring home 1,000 of its soldiers this year, with only a few hundred left after 2013.
In a survey published on Thursday, 84% of French people said they supported the full withdrawal of troops by the end of this year. #
Mr Sarkozy's Socialist opponent in this year's presidential elections, Francois Hollande, has pledged to bring troops home this year if elected.