No sign Afghan leaders want to change draft security pact-US official

A senior U.S. official expressed confidence on Wednesday that a security deal with Afghanistan will be finalized after President-elect Ashraf Ghani takes office next week, saying there is no sign the country's new leaders want to change the draft bilateral agreement.

The agreement lays out the terms under which U.S. troops may stay beyond this year. Ghani will be sworn in on Monday and has agreed to form a power-sharing government with his political rival, Abdullah Abdullah, after a long deadlock over who had won the election.

"There has been no indication there is any effort to change it," the senior State Department official told reporters, adding that everyone considered the deal closed in terms of negotiation.

"We expect it will be fully signed in a matter of days after the inauguration, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

He also said one of the most pressing issues for the new Afghan government will be dealing with the country's fiscal crisis.

Beginning next year, about 8,000 American troops, 4,000 other foreign military personnel, are expected to stay on in Afghanistan as part of a NATO-led training and advisory mission. Some 1,800 Americans will conduct counterterrorism missions.

The United States ousted Afghanistan's Taliban rulers to deny al Qaeda a sanctuary after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. At the peak of U.S. involvement, there were roughly 100,000 American troops in Afghanistan in 2011.

Outgoing President Hamid Karzai had refused to sign the draft security agreement, saying it would have to wait until after the election.

The senior State Department official said the United States was encouraged by discussions already under way between Ghani and Abdullah to flesh out transition plans and address Afghanistan's many challenges.

"Everything we have seen over the course of the past just few days ... are very good omens for how this will actually work," the official added.

He also discussed Afghanistan's fiscal crisis, which has worsened as domestic revenue shortfalls have grown.

The official said the formation of a unity government gave "enormous confidence" to donors, who were more likely to assist as long as Afghan leaders were committed to economic reforms and tackling corruption.

Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington next month will be an early opportunity to explore ways of tackling the fiscal crisis, the official said.

Another chance for discussing the budget will come up at a meeting on Afghanistan in London in November, he added.

"We would have to take our cues from what the new government does," the official said, adding that both Ghani and Abdullah have told the United States the fiscal crisis was an "early issue" they would raise with international donors.


REUTERS