Afghanistan's Karzai says no rush to sign U.S. security pact

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - Afghanistan is in no rush to sign a pact with the United States setting out how many U.S. troops will stay after a NATO mission ends next year and may even delay a decision until after a presidential election, President Hamid Karzai said.

Foreign combat troops are due to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014, when the NATO-led mission winds up and the responsibility for fighting Taliban insurgents is handed over to Afghan forces.

But NATO plans to keep a slimmed-down training and advisory mission in Afghanistan after 2014 although the United States and other NATO allies have been slow to provide detailed numbers of troops for the force.

The United States has been putting pressure on Afghanistan to finalise a bilateral security agreement (BSA), which will mandate how many, and where, U.S. soldiers will remain once the NATO mission ends.

Read more: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/08/24/uk-afghanistan-usa-idUKBRE97N05120130824