US pact to top Afghan president agenda

As Afghanistan’s new president is set to be officially sworn into office later this week, signing the controversial Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) with the US will reportedly top his agenda, Press TV reports.

After taking the oath of presidential office on Monday, Afghan now President-elect Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai will first have to take up the issue of signing a so-called security pact with Washington, a military agreement that the country’s outgoing President Hamid Karzai refused to sign.

Following his inauguration in a few days, Ghani is widely expected to quickly sign the BSA with Washington, something that the US government is looking forward to, as many observers in the country believe he favors good ties with the West.

“We try to solve the problem of our refugees and internally displaced people. We will also have good relations with regional and Western countries within our framework,” Ghani declared in a recent address.

The signing of the security agreement will represent a major gain for the United States.

Washington wanted the BSA to be signed by Karzai, who refused to compromise in negotiations on the deal.

Meanwhile, the US-led NATO’s mission is to end in war-ravaged Afghanistan by the end of 2014 while insecurity is still high despite over a decade of the US-led war.

There are nearly 30,000 US-led NATO troops remaining in Afghanistan. Over 20,000 of them are American service members.

Some 10,000 of the US troopers will be staying in Afghanistan following the expected BSA signing.

MFB/HJL/SS