Afghanistan finalizes security pact draft for extended stay of US troops post-2014

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Afghanistan has finalized the draft of a security pact that will allow continued presence of American military in the country post-2014, diplomats said.

An Afghan diplomat said that a final draft of the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) has been sent to the U.S and it will be presented to a grand "jirga", or council, next week for discussion and a final decision, the Express Tribune reports.

According to the report, President Hamid Karzai is likely to address the upcoming jirga, which will be attended by nearly 3,000 people.

The U.S. and Afghanistan have been involved in discussions for nearly two years over certain controversial parts of the pact, including the issue of immunity of the U.S. soldiers and exact locations of the bases.

Karzai had, earlier in June, suspended talks on the pact over the Taliban opening their political office in Qatar with its white flag and a plaque of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan outside their office.

Afghan authorities had also blamed the American administration for its contradictory stance towards the peace process.

The US had, meanwhile, warned that it could adopt the policy of a 'Zero Option', which meant total withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan by 2014.

The Taliban and the Hizb-e-Islami groups have already rejected the BSA, saying that the permanent stay of U.S. troops will mean a long war, the report added.

Opponents claimed that Karzai is likely to invite like-minded people to the jirga as a way of ensuring approval for the controversial pact.