The US has ruled out apologizing to Afghanistan for “mistakes” made during the 12-year war and denied claims in Kabul that such a mea culpa was being drafted.
The stern comments in Washington came after Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s spokesman said US President Barack Obama planned to write a letter acknowledging that US military errors had caused civilian casualties.
“There is not a need for the United States to apologize to Afghanistan. Quite the contrary,” US National Security Advisor Susan Rice told CNN on Tuesday.
The US State Department also expressed caution on a long-sought bilateral security agreement (BSA), after an official in Kabul said the two sides had reached agreement on key points of the agreement.
Karzai spokesman Aimal Faizi said Obama would write to his boss acknowledging US “mistakes in the war on terror” and the suffering of the Afghan people due to US military operations, as part of the BSA.
However, Rice said “no such letter has been drafted or delivered. That is not on the table.”
US officials later said the request for a letter had come from Karzai himself during a telephone call with US Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday.
The security agreement could lead to a small group of US troops staying behind after the withdrawal of combat troops next year to train Afghan forces and to mount anti-terror missions.
Officials in Washington said there was still some way to go before reaching a final agreement on the pact, to be put to an Afghan Grand Assembly of tribal chieftains and politicians, known as a “Loya Jirga” for approval.
Faizi said on Tuesday that a major hurdle in negotiations toward an agreement — relating to the issue of whether US troops staying on in Afghanistan would be allowed to search the homes of Afghan citizens — had been overcome.
Faizi said the deal would allow US troops to enter Afghan homes once Nato forces withdraw next year, but only in “extraordinary circumstances” where there was an urgent risk to life.
He said both sides had now agreed to the clause on house searches, apparently ending an impasse which had threatened to scupper the agreement.
Faizi said Karzai and Kerry spoke by telephone on Tuesday during final negotiations for the security agreement, which will shape Washington’s future military presence in the war-scarred nation.
However, officials in Washington said there was still some way to go before reaching a final agreement.
“We’re not there yet. There are still some final issues we are working through,” US Department of State spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
Even if a final agreement is reached, Afghanistan has insisted that the BSA must be approved by a mass gathering of tribal chieftains and politicians.
The four-day Loya Jirga in grand assembly is set to begin in Kabul today.
The BSA will determine how many US soldiers stay in Afghanistan when most of NATO’s troops deployed in the country since 2001 — currently numbering 75,000 — leave at the end of next year.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number