Loya Jirga Head Rejects Karzai Demand to Delay U.S. Pact Signing
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-23/loya-jirga-head-rejects-karzai-demand-to-delay-u-s-pact-signing.html
Afghan President Hamid Karzais demand to delay the signing of a security pact with the U.S. until after Aprils presidential vote is unacceptable and will harm the country, the head of a council of tribal elders said.
Karzai has no right to delay the signing of the accord that would pave the way for a continued American presence in Afghanistan beyond 2014, Sibghatullah Mojaddedi, chairman of the loya jirga council called by the president, said yesterday.
Every demand of Mr. Karzai and ours have been practiced and accepted by them, Mojaddedi told reporters in front of the councils compound in Kabul.
President Barack Obamas spokesman, Jay Carney, on Nov. 22 said the U.S. government needs the Bilateral Security Agreement with Afghanistan done by the end of the year, calling action imperative and the U.S. offer final. His comments followed those of Karzai spokesman Aimal Faizi, who repeated the Afghan presidents stance that the accord shouldnt be signed until after the countrys April presidential vote.