[h=3]By YAROSLAV TROFIMOV[/h]KABUL—Afghan President Hamid Karzai Sunday made some of his fiercest comments yet against the U.S., saying the Taliban carried out deadly suicide bombings this weekend "in the service of America."
European Pressphoto AgencyAfghan President Hamid Karzai speaks during an event commemorating International Women's Day in Kabul Sunday.
Mr. Karzai lashed out at the U.S. in a televised speech hours before a planned meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who is visiting the country to discuss ways of ending America's longest foreign war. On Saturday, Mr. Hagel's first full day in Afghanistan, Taliban suicide bombers killed at least 18 people outside the Afghan defense ministry in Kabul and in the eastern province of Khost.
In his speech, the Afghan president said the U.S. doesn't really see the Taliban as an enemy, and is engaged in negotiations with Taliban leaders behind his back. "Taliban is every day in talks with America, but in Kabul and Khost they set off bombs to show strength to America," Mr. Karzai said. "The bombs that went off in Kabul and Khost yesterday were not a show of power to America, but were in service to America…It was in the service of foreigners not withdrawing from Afghanistan."
The U.S., other Western allies and Mr. Karzai's administration are engaged in discussions over what foreign military presence, if any, will remain in Afghanistan after the coalition's current mandate expires at the end of next year. The U.S. has also been negotiating with the Taliban, but these talks have stalled over several issues, such as a possible swap of Taliban prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for a U.S. soldier in Taliban captivity, and the Taliban's refusal to talk with Mr. Karzai's representatives.
U.S. officials have envisaged that North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies would make up a large part of the residual force after 2014. Mr. Karzai, however, reiterated his opposition Sunday to any deal with NATO as a whole, saying countries willing to keep troops here would need to negotiate individual deals with Kabul.
"If you want to stay beyond 2014 all of you separately need to sign agreements with the Afghan people," Mr. Karzai said Sunday. "Limited numbers, in a location we chose and under our conditions and framework, with respect for our laws, our sovereignty, our traditions and culture."
Few if any Western allies would agree to contribute troops to an Afghan mission that isn't within the NATO framework, Western diplomats say. "They want us out, that is for sure," a Western official said. "They feel that we are part of the problem."
Mr. Karzai's outburst came a day after the U.S. abruptly canceled a planned handover to Afghan control of its main detention facility in Afghanistan, at the Bagram Air Field. The handover of Afghan detainees at the facility was a long-standing demand by Mr. Karzai, who portrayed it as a key test of Afghan sovereignty. The event was canceled, U.S. officials say, because the Afghan government demanded last-minute changes to the handover agreement. The handover should still take place later this week, the Afghan government said.
In another flash point in relations, Mr. Karzai last month ordered U.S. Special Operations forces to leave the province of Wardak near Kabul, following allegations that the Americans or their Afghan allies have killed local civilians, including a local student allegedly found with his throat slit after his detention. The U.S. has denied these allegations and formed a joint commission with Afghan officials to investigate the claims.
A frustrated Mr. Karzai said in Sunday's speech that he had gone to bed as late as midnight because he was busy securing the freedom of an Afghan university student who, he said, had been "harassed" by U.S.-led coalition forces.
Shortly after the speech, Mr. Karzai issued a formal decree banning foreign forces from entering Afghan universities and detaining students.
—Habib Khan Totakhil and Dion Nissenbaum contributed to this article.Write to Yaroslav Trofimov at [email protected]
European Pressphoto AgencyAfghan President Hamid Karzai speaks during an event commemorating International Women's Day in Kabul Sunday.
Mr. Karzai lashed out at the U.S. in a televised speech hours before a planned meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who is visiting the country to discuss ways of ending America's longest foreign war. On Saturday, Mr. Hagel's first full day in Afghanistan, Taliban suicide bombers killed at least 18 people outside the Afghan defense ministry in Kabul and in the eastern province of Khost.
In his speech, the Afghan president said the U.S. doesn't really see the Taliban as an enemy, and is engaged in negotiations with Taliban leaders behind his back. "Taliban is every day in talks with America, but in Kabul and Khost they set off bombs to show strength to America," Mr. Karzai said. "The bombs that went off in Kabul and Khost yesterday were not a show of power to America, but were in service to America…It was in the service of foreigners not withdrawing from Afghanistan."
The U.S., other Western allies and Mr. Karzai's administration are engaged in discussions over what foreign military presence, if any, will remain in Afghanistan after the coalition's current mandate expires at the end of next year. The U.S. has also been negotiating with the Taliban, but these talks have stalled over several issues, such as a possible swap of Taliban prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for a U.S. soldier in Taliban captivity, and the Taliban's refusal to talk with Mr. Karzai's representatives.
U.S. officials have envisaged that North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies would make up a large part of the residual force after 2014. Mr. Karzai, however, reiterated his opposition Sunday to any deal with NATO as a whole, saying countries willing to keep troops here would need to negotiate individual deals with Kabul.
"If you want to stay beyond 2014 all of you separately need to sign agreements with the Afghan people," Mr. Karzai said Sunday. "Limited numbers, in a location we chose and under our conditions and framework, with respect for our laws, our sovereignty, our traditions and culture."
Few if any Western allies would agree to contribute troops to an Afghan mission that isn't within the NATO framework, Western diplomats say. "They want us out, that is for sure," a Western official said. "They feel that we are part of the problem."
Mr. Karzai's outburst came a day after the U.S. abruptly canceled a planned handover to Afghan control of its main detention facility in Afghanistan, at the Bagram Air Field. The handover of Afghan detainees at the facility was a long-standing demand by Mr. Karzai, who portrayed it as a key test of Afghan sovereignty. The event was canceled, U.S. officials say, because the Afghan government demanded last-minute changes to the handover agreement. The handover should still take place later this week, the Afghan government said.
In another flash point in relations, Mr. Karzai last month ordered U.S. Special Operations forces to leave the province of Wardak near Kabul, following allegations that the Americans or their Afghan allies have killed local civilians, including a local student allegedly found with his throat slit after his detention. The U.S. has denied these allegations and formed a joint commission with Afghan officials to investigate the claims.
A frustrated Mr. Karzai said in Sunday's speech that he had gone to bed as late as midnight because he was busy securing the freedom of an Afghan university student who, he said, had been "harassed" by U.S.-led coalition forces.
Shortly after the speech, Mr. Karzai issued a formal decree banning foreign forces from entering Afghan universities and detaining students.
—Habib Khan Totakhil and Dion Nissenbaum contributed to this article.Write to Yaroslav Trofimov at [email protected]