US sees progress on security deal as Kerry visits Kabul

KABUL: President Hamid Karzai and US Secretary of State John Kerry held talks in Kabul Friday, with US officials saying progress was made over a long-delayed deal on the future of US forces in Afghanistan. Karzai said this week that he was prepared to walk away from negotiations on the troubled Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) that would allow some US troops to stay in the country after 2014. But the United States has repeatedly pressed for the pact to be signed by the end of this month so that the US-led NATO military coalition can schedule its withdrawal of 87,000 combat troops by December 2014. "The tone was constructive throughout the entire conversation," a US official told reporters after Karzai and Kerry met. "It is fair to say that the differences that exist were narrowed on the vast of majority of the outstanding issues. "Certainly, the scope of counter-terrorism was discussed." Afghan officials declined to comment, but Kabul has previously said the sticking points were US demands for the right to conduct unilateral military operations against militants, and on how the US would pledge to protect Afghanistan. Karzai has said he refuses to be rushed into signing the BSA deal, and would first seek approval from a traditional grand assembly of tribal leaders to be convened in about month's time. "If it doesn't suit us and if it doesn't suit them, then naturally we will go separate ways," he said in a BBC interview broadcast on Monday. The agreement would see a few thousand US troops remain in Afghanistan to train local forces and target Al-Qaeda remnants. Karzai and Kerry, who have a warm personal friendship, were set to continue their talks on Saturday, though US officials said that the deal would not be signed during the visit. Afghan officials dismiss the possibility that the US may enact the "zero option" of a complete pull-out after its soldiers have fought the Taliban since the 9/11 attacks in 2001. The Afghan leader has had a tempestuous relationship with the US and other foreign allies since he came to power in 2001, often sparking outrage with his criticism of international military efforts to thwart the Taliban insurgents. "The entire NATO exercise was one that caused Afghanistan a lot of suffering, a lot of loss of life, and no gains," he said this week. Karzai will stand down at elections in April 2014, and many analysts say he is keen to secure a reputation as a strong nationalist leader. A credible election is seen as the key test of Afghanistan's stability as NATO troops withdraw, and Kerry was also due to discuss issues such as voter registration and security with the president. Karzai, who hosted Kerry at a dinner on Friday, officially suspended BSA talks in June in a furious reaction to the Taliban opening a liaison office in Qatar that was presented as an embassy for a government in waiting. The Taliban regime was driven from power by a US-led coalition in 2001 for sheltering the Al-Qaeda leaders behind the 9/11 attacks. (AFP)