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Political Parties Urge Karzai to Sign BSA

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Afghan political parties in a gathering in Kabul on Saturday urged President Hamid Karzai to sign the Kabul-Washington Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) as soon as possible and said it should not be delayed "due to his confusing demands."

Two weeks ago, President Karzai flouted the recommendation of the Loya Jirga to sign the BSA before the end of the year, as the U.S. and its NATO allies have requested. Karzai said he would not finalize the accord until after the April, and then, only if the U.S met new preconditions related to the Taliban peace process and raids on Afghan homes.

U.S. officials have indicated that if the BSA is not signed, there will be no residual troop presence in Afghanistan after the NATO combat mission ends in 2014 and some 4.1 billion USD in military funding to the Afghan forces will be cut off.

Afghan political party officials on Saturday said the delay over the signing of the BSA would not have any "good impacts" for Afghanistan.

"The singing of the BSA would assure peace in Afghanistan and those stand against the agreement are actually against the demands of the people of Afghanistan," National Coalition Party spokesman Fazl Rahman Oria said.

Since Karzai stated he would hold off on signing the pact, criticisms form Afghan officials and the public have mounted.

"The signing of the security pace with U.S. will have basic role in the stability and peace in Afghanistan and work on it should not be irresponsible," Right and Justice Party member Abas Noeyan said.

U.S. officials have said they intend to keep some 10,000 troops in Afghanistan to train, advise and assist the Afghan security forces. Many Afghan security experts have said without such supporting force, Afghanistan would be unable to defend itself against foreign and domestic enemies.

"The refusal to sign this pact for any reason would have bad outcomes for Afghanistan's economy and security," Wahdate-e-Islami Party member Mohammad Tahir Zahir said. "Security will become a bigger worry because there will be no help and Afghan security forces will be unable to succeed."

The political parties urged the international community and the U.S. to continue support for the Afghan security forces and Afghanistan's economy after 2014.

On Thursday, James Dobbins, the U.S. government's special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, visited Kabul and discussed the BSA with Karzai
"I'd have to say on the security agreement we didn't really make any progress; it was sort of a restatement of the known positions," Dobbins said. "I explained why we thought it was important to remove the anxiety, uncertainty around this as quickly as possible in order to move forward with the election process and to sustain the broad international coalition."

Previously, Washington argued the pact needed to be signed before the end of the year, so the U.S. and its NATO allies could make plans for a residual troop presence.


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