KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Saturday that we are in no rush to sign the bilateral security agreement with the United States.
The US has been putting pressure on Afghanistan to finalize the said agreement which will mandate how many, and where, US soldiers will remain once the NATO-led mission leave Afghanistan as it is scheduled to leave by the end of 2014 and the responsibility for fighting Taliban insurgents is handed over to Afghan forces.
According to US diplomats, they want the security pact signed by October, to prevent it becoming an issue in the campaign for next year’s Afghan presidential election.
“Although the Americans asked for October, we are not in a hurry and if the document is agreed upon during this government, good,” Karzai told reporters at his Kabul palace on Saturday.
“And if not, the next president can discuss whether to or not to accept it,” Karzai added.
