KABUL: A group of US Senators have warned Afghan President Hamid Karzai that if he does not sign the bilateral security agreement with the United States, it will pose a threat to Afghanistan and the region.
The warning came in a meeting between the three US Senators including John McCain‚ Lindsey Graham and John Barrasso and the Afghan President in Kabul.
After the meeting, the US Senators said that they expect the security deal with the Afghan government to be signed soon.
The bilateral security agreement will allow US troops to remain in the war-torn country after the final withdrawal of the international force at the end of 2014. If it is not signed, all US and NATO forces will have to pull out from Afghanistan.
The Afghan president continues to refuse to sign the security deal and says that the matter should be left to the next government after the April elections in Afghanistan.
Karzai also says that the Afghan government cannot approve a deal without guarantees that the US will halt its deadly airstrikes on residential areas of Afghanistan and help broker a peace process with the Taliban.
Moreover, the US Senators also urged the Afghan president to halt the release of 88 prisoners from Bagram prison located in the northeastern province of Parwan because they pose a serious threat to security.
