Kabul: Efforts to forge a deal that will
govern the American military presence in Afghanistan beyond a
planned US troop withdrawal in 2014 are faltering, current and
former Afghan officials said Monday.
They said obstacles include disputes over the transfer of
American-run detention centres, night raids and quarrels
within the Afghan president`s inner circle that led one of his
top advisers to threaten to resign.
The failure to make headway on a strategic partnership
document reflects growing animosity between President Hamid
Karzai and the United States, which reached its lowest level
after the burning of Qurans and other Islamic texts at a US
military base on Feb 20.
Kabul: Efforts to forge a deal that will
govern the American military presence in Afghanistan beyond a
planned US troop withdrawal in 2014 are faltering, current and
former Afghan officials said Monday.
They said obstacles include disputes over the transfer of
American-run detention centres, night raids and quarrels
within the Afghan president`s inner circle that led one of his
top advisers to threaten to resign.
The failure to make headway on a strategic partnership
document reflects growing animosity between President Hamid
Karzai and the United States, which reached its lowest level
after the burning of Qurans and other Islamic texts at a US
military base on Feb 20.
Spanta, who is spearheading the talks, wants Karzai to
compromise on the two most contentious issues being negotiated
night raids and the US transfer of detention facilities to
Afghan government control.
Karzai did not accept Spanta`s resignation, but kept the
letter. Two times later, Spanta threatened to resign, mostly
recently in the past several days, the official said.
PTI
