Kerry, Karzai agree to pact on troops

US Secretary of State John Kerry and Afghan President Hamid Karzai have reached a preliminary agreement on a bilateral security pact that now depends on approval from Afghanistan's tribal leaders.

The pact, announced jointly by Kerry and Karzai late on Saturday after two days of talks in Kabul, would keep some US forces in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of most foreign troops by the end of next year.

The draft includes a US demand to retain legal jurisdiction over its troops who stay on in Afghanistan, which would give them immunity from Afghan law.

Karzai opposes that and said the question could not be decided by his government. Instead, a Loya Jirga, or an assembly of elders, leaders and other influential people, will consider the demand and whether to accept it.

The United States is insisting it cannot agree to a deal unless it is granted the right to try in the US any of its citizens who break the law in Afghanistan.

"We need to say that if the issue of jurisdiction cannot be resolved, then unfortunately there cannot be a bilateral security agreement," Kerry told a news conference.

US officials said they wanted the pact finalized by the end of October, and Kerry's visit was seen as a last-ditch effort to push it through before the deadline.

"Kerry's longest talks, 26-hours talks, with President Karzai remained unresolved over providing immunity to the US soldiers, because President Karzai said that the people of Afghanistan would make the decision in this respect," private television channel Tolo said on its news bulletin on Sunday morning.

Confirming the intensity of the talks, Kerry said serious negotiations went into the late hours of the previous night and all of Saturday, "and as the president said, it is not an easy negotiation because it involves issues of life and death, issues of the future of the country and issues of emotion".

A senior US administration official said the sides had agreed on language in the draft deal that covers the issue of immunity and "can be put to his Loya Jirga for their consideration".

Hundreds of people, and at times more than 1,000, attend a Loya Jirga, which makes it difficult to predict how deliberations will unfold.

However, in the past, they have voted in favor of keeping a US presence in Afghanistan, and Western diplomats are optimistic the assembly will pass the deal - as long as Karzai remains in favor of it.

Reuters - Xinhua

(China Daily 10/14/2013 page12)