US intelligence director does not believe Karzai will sign security pact

Washington: The US director of national intelligence, said on Tuesday he does not expect Afghan President Hamid Karzai to sign a bilateral security agreement with the United States. The Obama administration has been pressing Karzai to sign a security pact that would authorize US troops to remain in Afghanistan after 2014. But Karzai has refused so far to sign a bilateral security agreement, which Washington insists must be approved before it will agree to leave a troop contingent behind.

"I don`t believe that President Karzai is going to sign it," National Intelligence Director James Clapper said at a US Senate hearing when asked whether he thought it would best if Washington simply decided to wait for the election of a new Afghan president for the signing of an agreement.