Afghan President Hamid Karzai yesterday called on elders assembled for a national conference to help create a fair framework for relations with the US and find a path to peace for the turbulent country.
Karzai spoke at the opening of a loya jirga, or grand council, which will discuss a proposed strategic partnership with the US that would oversee the US military presence in Afghanistan as troops draw down, as well as possible peace talks with the Taliban.
Karzai urged the roughly 2,000 delegates to consider both the need for international help and the need to make sure Afghans are setting the rules in their own country.
“We want to have a strong partnership with the US and NATO, but with conditions,” Karzai said. “We want our national sovereignty and an end to night raids and to the detention of our countrymen. We don’t want parallel structures alongside our government.”
KEEPING US TROOPS
The roughly 100,000 US troops currently in Afghanistan operate without any bilateral agreement governing their actions, though the majority of them are under a UN mandate.
The jirga could give Karzai political cover for negotiations over a deal to keep some US troops in Afghanistan for another decade despite opposition from his people and the war-weary US public.
Karzai has set out terms for a possible partnership — such as banning international troops from entering any Afghan home and taking control of all detention facilities almost immediately — that have so far been unacceptable to US officials, according to those familiar with the discussions.
US officials have said that they support the jirga and its attempt to make sure that tribal leaders are ready to accept a partnership agreement.
Karzai said the Afghan government is also working on partnerships with France, Britain, Australia and the EU, but that with the large US presence in Afghanistan, it was particularly important to get input from tribal leaders on the accord with the Americans.
LOW EXPECTATIONS
Few expect the four-day loya jirga to produce much of substance, both because its legal status is unclear and because there is no draft accord to present to the assembled elders.
Parliamentarians say the meeting is unconstitutional because it sidelines the legislature, which should be the body to consider such national issues.
Karzai stressed that this meeting is only to serve as an advisory gathering in an apparent attempt to calm these critics. He also called on delegates to stay focused on the two designated topics.
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