US: Afghan security deal may be signed next week

The Obama administration expects that a security agreement allowing US troops to remain in Afghanistan next year will be signed by the country's incoming president as early as next week.
A senior US official told reporters today that the agreement would be signed by Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai or his designee "within days" of his inauguration next yesterday as president.
The official spoke condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter by name.
Ghani Ahmadzai and his rival, Abdullah Abdullah, had both pledged to sign the pact that outgoing President Hamid Karzai negotiated with Secretary of State John Kerry but refused to sign.

The deal will allow some 10,000 American forces to remain in Afghanistan next year after all combat troops are withdrawn at the end of 2014.