UNITED NATIONS, Mar 19: Afghanistan has said it will not sign a security deal with the US until its conditions, specifically beginning of official peace talks, are met.
“Let me be clear…The BSA (Bilateral Security Agreement with the US) will be signed only if Afghanistan’s conditions are met, namely the beginning of official peace talks,” Afghanistan’s UN ambassador Zahir Tanin said.
“There is no change in Afghanistan’s position on the BSA, and our preconditions for signing it remain,” Tanin said, a day after he expressed certainity that the pact would soon be signed allowing some US troops to remain in Afghanistan after the final withdrawal at the end of the year.
A statement issued by Permanent Mission of Afghanistan to the United Nations said there is no change in Afghanistan’s position on the Bilateral Security Agreement.
Afghanistan’s position was reiterated by President Hamid Karzai who – in his final address to Afghanistan’s parliament on Saturday – said that he would not sign the agreement.
Tanin’s statement to the UN Security Council on Monday appeared sharply at odds with Karzai’s final address to parliament ahead of April 5 presidential elections.
Tanin had said the Afghan people demonstrated at a Loya Jirga or grand council in November that they “believe in the importance of continuing strategic relations with the United States, NATO and the wider international community.”
“To this end, we are certain the Bilateral Security Agreement with the United States will be signed soon,” Tanin had said.
Afghanistan is set to hold presidential and provincial council elections on April 5, leading to the country’s first democratic transfer of power. It comes amid an ongoing transition process by which Afghanistan is assuming greater responsibility for its own affairs throughout the country. (AGENCIES)
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