Afghans prepare for meeting on US security deal

Afghan officials say a national meeting to discuss the fate of a future security deal with the US will likely be held in the third week of November.
Organising committee member Sadeq Mudaber said today that the consultative assembly of tribal elders, or Loya Jirga, will start at some point between November 19 and 21 and could last as long as a week.
He expected 3,000 people to attend. US Secretary of State John Kerry and President Hamid Karzai a week ago reached an agreement in principle on the major elements of a deal that would allow American troops to stay in Afghanistan after 2014.

But Karzai said a potentially deal-breaking issue of jurisdiction over those forces must be debated by the Loya Jirga before he makes a decision.