KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Saturday that he will not sign the bilateral security agreement with the United States if Washington does not guarantee peace in the war-torn country.
In his address to a press conference in Kabul on Saturday, the Afghan president said that the signing of the deal would have no positive conclusion if peace and security were not guaranteed.
“If US is not willing to accept our conditions on the BSA (so-called Bilateral Security Agreement) they can leave anytime and Afghan will go without foreigners,” Karzai said.
The Afghan president also blamed the US for pursuing wrong policies in the so-called fight against terrorism. He said that it would not be tolerable for Afghans if innocent people were killed even after the security agreement is signed.
Moreover, Karzai warned that pressures and psychological wars would not prompt him to sign the deal.
The bilateral security agreement will allow US troops to remain in Afghanistan 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.
Meanwhile, the US Congress cut development and military funding for Afghanistan amidst uncertainty about signing of the security deal.
The US Congress also barred US defense officials from embarking on major new infrastructure projects.
In an interview‚ the US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan James Dobbins said this is an example of the price Afghanistan is paying for delay in signing security agreement.
