US OFFICIALS MULL BYPASSING KARZAI ON SECURITY DEAL

Kabul, 12 Rabi’ul Akhir 1435/123 February 2014 (MINA) – Senior US intelligence and military officials attempt to bypass Afghan President Hamid Karzai after he refused to sign a controversial bilateral security agreement with Washington.

The US authorities say there is little chance of repairing relations with Karzai and members of his administration, , Press TV quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

“If he’s not going to be part of the solution, we have to have a way to get past him,” The Wall Street Journal quoted a senior US military official as saying, adding, “It’s a pragmatic recognition that clearly Karzai may not sign the BSA and that he doesn’t represent the voice of the Afghan people.”

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US National Intelligence Director James Clapper also said on Tuesday that it would be best if Washington simply decided to wait for the election of a new Afghan president for signing the deal.

“I don’t believe that President Karzai is going to sign it,” Clapper said.

Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel have signaled their displeasure with Karzai by limiting their contacts with him.

The revelations come amid a standoff between the US and Afghan leaders over the so-called Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA).

The US and its Western allies have been pressuring Karzai to sign the pact but the Afghan president says the matter should be left to the next government after April’s elections.

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Under the bilateral security agreement, some 10,000 to 12,000 American troops will stay in Afghanistan till 2024 after the 2014 withdrawal deadline.

Karzai has refused to sign the so-called Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA), saying the Afghan nation cannot approve the agreement without guarantees that the US will halt its deadly airstrikes on residential areas.(T/P012/E01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)