Afghan elders back 10 years of US presence

[Varad]

Loya Jirga concludes: Afghan elders back 10 years of US presence

KABUL: Afghan elders, after four days of talks, have endorsed a strategic partnership deal with the US on Saturday which could see American troops remain on Afghan soil for at least 10 more years.

However, they insisted on a string of conditions.
The terms stressed in the declaration at the end of the Loya Jirga (grand council) of tribal leaders included that US nationals committing crimes in Afghanistan must not have immunity and that the US must side with Afghanistan if a third country tries to attack it.
President Hamid Karzai accepted the conditions and recommendations of the jirga, which brought together 2,000 elders from around the country in Kabul, saying they were “for the good of Afghanistan”.
The strategic partnership deal will govern the presence of US troops in Afghanistan after 2014, when all Nato-led foreign combat forces are due to leave.The jirga’s declaration on the deal, which is still being negotiated by Kabul and Washington, is not binding.
However, it is likely to be used by Karzai to claim he has a general mandate from the Afghan people in the ongoing negotiations, which are highly controversial among many in the warring country.
The meeting also backed holding talks with members of the Taliban who renounce violence, despite the assassination in September of peace envoy Burhanuddin Rabbani, which officials blame on insurgents.
“The jirga has decided that the strategic partnership, for better security in the country, is needed,” said the jirga’s final declaration, read out to delegates by spokeswoman Safia Sediqi.
“With regards to the national interest of Afghanistan, the strategic partnership is considered very important.”
Other conditions outlined by the jirga included that the partnership deal be signed for 10 years initially, although that could be extended, and that responsibility for all prisons in Afghanistan be handed to Kabul.
It also stressed that Afghan security forces should take the lead in all military operations, that the US should not play out regional rivalries on Afghan soil, and called for the Afghan parliament to approve the deal.
A number of key figures including Karzai’s main rival Abdullah Abdullah boycotted the jirga amid questions over how delegates were appointed.
Some analysts accused the president of seeking to use the meeting to gain backing for a highly sensitive deal which many Afghans strongly oppose after ten bloody years of war.
“The aim of the jirga appears not to be to deliver fresh policy but to get political cover so the president can cite it as evidence that the people supported a deal with the Americans,” Kate Clark of the Afghanistan Analysts Network wrote this week in a blog posting.
The jirga also called for a “revision” of Afghanistan’s peace strategy after Rabbani’s killing, which has badly stalled efforts to pursue peace.
In addition, the declaration called for the international community to pressure Pakistan – which Afghan officials accuse of harbouring insurgents – and Iran to do more to push hopes for peace forward.
“We want a revision of the peace strategy and a new policy should be outlined,” the jirga’s declaration said.
“The door of peace should be open to those who wish to abandon violence and return to a peaceful life but we must ensure that the bitter experience of the past is not repeated.”
The jirga was conducted amid tight security with the area surrounding the venue on lockdown and two extra days of national holiday declared in a bid to keep people off the streets amid fears of an insurgent attack.

Loya Jirga concludes: Afghan elders back 10 years of US presence – The Express Tribune

 

[Lankan Ranger]

Hundreds of Afghans protest long-term pact with US

More than 1,000 university students blocked a main highway in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday to protest any agreement that would allow U.S. troops to remain in the country after a planned transfer of authority in 2014.

An assembly of more than 2,000 tribal elders and dignitaries known as a loya jirga over the weekend endorsed negotiating a security pact with Washington, though they also backed a series of conditions proposed by Afghan President Hamid Karzai including the end of night raids by international troops and complete Afghan control over detainees.

On Sunday, the protesters in Jalalabad city denounced any agreement that would keep U.S. troops in the country, blocking the road to Kabul and shouting "Death to America. Death to Karzai."

Both the resolution and the protests reflect the tension in Afghanistan between a desire for real sovereignty and the need to bolster the relatively weak government against a still-strong Taliban insurgency.

The idea of the proposed security agreement is to keep a U.S. military presence in Afghanistan past 2014, when most international forces are to have left. Afghan and U.S. officials envision a force of several thousand U.S. troops, who would train Afghan forces and help with counterterrorism operations. The pact would outline the legal status of that force in Afghanistan, as well as the rules under which it would operate and where it would be based.

The jirga's resolution carries no legal weight, but could bolster Karzai's negotiating position with the United States during difficult talks under way to craft what Washington is calling a Strategic Partnership Document.

For its part, the Taliban condemned the recent meeting of elders on Sunday, saying that they were puppets of the Afghan government and therefore also puppets of the NATO and U.S. forces it sees as occupiers.

"They are acting like servants of the invaders of our country by issuing this resolution," Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement. He repeated the Taliban position that the only acceptable solution is for international forces to leave the country.

Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry said Afghan and international forces killed 16 insurgents in fighting over the past three days in the eastern Afghan province of Nuristan. There were no casualties among government forces, according to Mohammad Zareen, a spokesman for the provincial government.

Hundreds of Afghans protest long-term pact with US - Taiwan News Online

Dozens of Afghans protest over Afghan-US strategic pact

Dozens of Afghan university students in eastern Nangarhar province on Sunday protested against the recent decision of the Afghan grand assembly participants for voting on long term strategic cooperation agreement between Afghanistan and United States of America.

According to reports, the protestors blocked the main highway between capital Kabul and Jalalabad city and were shouting against the long term Afghanistan-US strategic pact.

The protester were carrying banners and were Shouting “Death to America! Death to Karzai!”
They vowed not to accept any partnership with the US.

This comes as Afghan political and community leaders endorsed the idea of a strategic partnership, with some caveats, after a 2,000-strong national gathering, or loya jirga, which ended on Saturday.

In the meantime, Taliban militants group fighting the Afghan government and NATO-led international coalition forces following a statement on Sunday condemned the decisions of the Afghan national grand assembly for voting on long term Afghan-US strategic pact.

Taliban militants in their statement further added, we believe that the agreement) was already designed by the Americans and only used the name of loya jirga or the national grand assembly to announce it.

Taliban militants in their statement also emphasized for an immediate withdrawal of all foreign troops from Afghanistan.

Dozens of Afghans protest over Afghan-US strategic pact - KHAAMA PRESS | Afghan Online Newspaper & Magazine