Chuck Hagel receives reassurance that Afghanistan security deal will be signed

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/07/afghanistan-us-troops-chuck-hagel

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The defence secretary, Chuck Hagel, said on Saturday that Afghanistan's defense minister had reassured him a security agreement with the US will be signed in a timely manner. Hagel also said he did not think more US pressure would be helpful in trying to persuade Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai, to sign the agreement.

Hagel had no plans to meet Karzai during his stopover – after meetings with Gulf leaders in Manama – and it was not immediately clear what impact the visit could have on the standoff. Hagel spoke to reporters after meeting the defence minister, Bismillah Khan Mohammadi.

Karzai has tentatively endorsed the agreement and a council of tribal elders, the Loya Jirga, has said it should be signed by the end of the year, as the US has demanded. But Karzai says he wants his successor to decide after Afghanistan's April elections. The president has stood his ground in the face of unrelenting pressure from diplomatic and defence officials.

The deal would allow US troops to stay in the country after 2014, to train local forces and carry out some counter-terrorism missions. Without a signed agreement, all US troops would leave at the end of next year, along with all foreign forces.

Joining Hagel at a briefing, the top US commander in Afghanistan, Marine General Joseph Dunford, said he would keep planning for a post-2014 force. But, Dunford said, if the long-delayed deal is not signed before January, he will have to start planning for other options.

Dunford said he was more concerned about the psychological effect of Karzai's failure to sign the agreement. The general said uncertainty about the future presence of coalition forces is causing a loss of confidence in Afghanistan, and said he has seen real estate prices go down and signs of "hedging behaviour".

Washington and Nato officials say they want a quick decision on the bilateral security agreement. Military leaders have said they need time to plan and coordinate with allies for the post-2014 mission, which could involve about 8,000 US forces and 6,000 troops from allied nations.

Karzai has said he will not sign any agreement that allows continued raids on Afghan homes. Under Afghan law, any agreement must be signed twice: once to get it to parliament and, if approved, then by Karzai alone in his capacity as president.

This past week, General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters in Washington that the White House had not instructed him to plan for an option that would leave no US troops in Afghanistan after 2014. But he cautioned that it was a possibility, given the current impasse.

During his visit, Hagel also plans to go around the country to see coalition service members. It is Hagel's second trip to Afghanistan since becoming defence chief early this year. During his March visit, there were bombings, security threats, political gridlock and wild accusations from Karzai. A suicide bomber targeted the Afghan defence ministry a day before Hagel was scheduled to go there, and the Pentagon chief had to cancel a planned news conference because of a security threat. In addition, Karzai accused the US of colluding with the Taliban.

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