KABUL, AFGHANISTAN: US President Obama's national security adviser, Susan E Rice, told President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan on Monday to stop his delay in signing a security agreement or potentially face the complete and final pullout of American troops by the end of 2014, according to American and Afghan officials.But while Karzai was said to have assured her he would sign the deal at some point, he gave no time frame for it. And over dinner at the presidential palace in Kabul, he later insisted on difficult new conditions as well, including the release of all inmates at the American prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, adding to the perception of crisis between the two nations, officials from both countries said.
"Ambassador Rice reiterated that, without a prompt signature, the US would have no choice but to initiate planning for a post-2014 future in which there would be no US or NATO troop presence in Afghanistan," according to a summary of the meeting released by the White House.
The meeting came a day after Karzai rejected a recommendation from his own handpicked assembly of Afghan leadership figures, a loya jirga, that by year's end he should sign the bilateral security agreement, which would allow for an extended American military presence in Afghanistan after 2014. Karzai told the loya jirga that he wanted to wait to sign it until after the Afghan presidential elections next April, while continuing to negotiate with the Americans.
In response, the White House summary said, "Ambassador Rice stressed that we have concluded negotiations and that deferring the signature of the agreement until after next year's elections is not viable, as it would not provide the United States and NATO allies the clarity necessary to plan for a potential post-2014 military presence."
Rice arrived in Afghanistan under a cloak of secrecy on Saturday, and the White House did not confirm she was here until after she was already meeting with Karzai on Monday evening, along with other top officials from both Washington and Kabul, and Karzai's senior aides.
A senior administration official said, however, that the primary purpose of her visit had been to meet American officials and troops before the Thanksgiving holiday, not to speak to Karzai, and that the apparent secrecy was only related to security concerns.
The meeting lasted two hours, and it continued into what Aimal Faizi, Karzai's spokesman, who was there, described as a working dinner. And while the tone was said to be generally diplomatic and polite, the president at one point became angry at the American ambassador, James B Cunningham.
Cunningham voiced objection to an extra demand by the loya jirga: the release of all Guantanamo inmates. He insisted that United States law governs the release of the prisoners and that the issue had no bearing on the bilateral security agreement, or BSA.
"That made the president very angry; his reaction was very strong and intense," Faizi said. "The president said we cannot separate the recommendations of the loya jirga from the BSA now — we cannot pick and choose. All those recommendations have to be taken seriously."
He was referring to all 31 recommendations issued by the loya jirga on Sunday, the main one being that the Afghan president should sign the agreement within one month.
Nearly all 50 committees of the jirga recommended that deadline. The other recommendations, from various committees, ran the gamut from allowing Afghan observers to attend American military trials to banning Christian religious observances on American military bases. Another recommendation was for an American military base in the remote province of Bamian, the most peaceful place in the country.
For her part, Rice warned Karzai that his refusal to sign the agreement would jeopardize Western aid to Afghanistan, including an annual $4 billion to support its military, which is entirely dependent on American aid.
"The lack of a signed BSA would jeopardize NATO and other nations' pledges of assistance," she told Karzai. She added that the United States would "continue to work with Afghanistan to support a smooth security transition and to help ensure free and fair elections."
But the senior administration official made it clear there was still hope that Karzai would sign the agreement. "Really what it was was us emphasizing that we're ready to sign, and that we've seen the Afghan people say that they're ready to sign, so now we're waiting for President Karzai," the official said.
Karzai's strongest language was again said to be over American counterterrorism raids on private Afghan homes. Despite having approved in principle a security agreement that allowed for such missions, with limits, in his address to the loya jirga on Sunday, he insisted the raids should be banned immediately and completely or he would cancel the security agreement.
Such raids are the main combat activity remaining to American forces in Afghanistan now, and have been identified by American commanders as a crucial, continuing mission.
"The president insisted on the stance: a total ban on home raids since yesterday," Faizi said. "He assured Madame Rice they will get the BSA. signed — you will get a BSA signed, but give the Afghan people time to see that the US has changed its behavior, that home raids are banned in practical terms."
He said Rice deferred that issue to the American military commander, Gen Joseph F Dunford Jr, who assured that he had given instructions to his forces to "take all necessary measures to avoid civilian casualties and that the commanders will be acting in accordance to the recommendations of the loya jirga and what is said in the BSA," Faizi said. But the Afghans were not satisfied with that reply.
The only point of agreement from the talks, according to Faizi's account, was on another demand that Karzai made during the security negotiations: transparency in elections.
Karzai was referring to what he has called American interference in the 2009 presidential vote, when pressure by American officials in response to allegations of election irregularities led Karzai to agree to a second round of elections.
Rice's visit to Afghanistan is her first foreign trip since taking over as Obama's national security adviser in July. She was scheduled to leave Tuesday.
Karzai expressed his hope that Rice would convey his views to President Obama and then return to negotiate the issues further, Faizi said.
But the White House summary made no mention of any further talks on the issue with Obama, and made it clear the negotiations were considered closed.
"Ambassador Rice reiterated that, without a prompt signature, the US would have no choice but to initiate planning for a post-2014 future in which there would be no US or NATO troop presence in Afghanistan," according to a summary of the meeting released by the White House.
The meeting came a day after Karzai rejected a recommendation from his own handpicked assembly of Afghan leadership figures, a loya jirga, that by year's end he should sign the bilateral security agreement, which would allow for an extended American military presence in Afghanistan after 2014. Karzai told the loya jirga that he wanted to wait to sign it until after the Afghan presidential elections next April, while continuing to negotiate with the Americans.
In response, the White House summary said, "Ambassador Rice stressed that we have concluded negotiations and that deferring the signature of the agreement until after next year's elections is not viable, as it would not provide the United States and NATO allies the clarity necessary to plan for a potential post-2014 military presence."
Rice arrived in Afghanistan under a cloak of secrecy on Saturday, and the White House did not confirm she was here until after she was already meeting with Karzai on Monday evening, along with other top officials from both Washington and Kabul, and Karzai's senior aides.
A senior administration official said, however, that the primary purpose of her visit had been to meet American officials and troops before the Thanksgiving holiday, not to speak to Karzai, and that the apparent secrecy was only related to security concerns.
The meeting lasted two hours, and it continued into what Aimal Faizi, Karzai's spokesman, who was there, described as a working dinner. And while the tone was said to be generally diplomatic and polite, the president at one point became angry at the American ambassador, James B Cunningham.
Cunningham voiced objection to an extra demand by the loya jirga: the release of all Guantanamo inmates. He insisted that United States law governs the release of the prisoners and that the issue had no bearing on the bilateral security agreement, or BSA.
"That made the president very angry; his reaction was very strong and intense," Faizi said. "The president said we cannot separate the recommendations of the loya jirga from the BSA now — we cannot pick and choose. All those recommendations have to be taken seriously."
He was referring to all 31 recommendations issued by the loya jirga on Sunday, the main one being that the Afghan president should sign the agreement within one month.
Nearly all 50 committees of the jirga recommended that deadline. The other recommendations, from various committees, ran the gamut from allowing Afghan observers to attend American military trials to banning Christian religious observances on American military bases. Another recommendation was for an American military base in the remote province of Bamian, the most peaceful place in the country.
For her part, Rice warned Karzai that his refusal to sign the agreement would jeopardize Western aid to Afghanistan, including an annual $4 billion to support its military, which is entirely dependent on American aid.
"The lack of a signed BSA would jeopardize NATO and other nations' pledges of assistance," she told Karzai. She added that the United States would "continue to work with Afghanistan to support a smooth security transition and to help ensure free and fair elections."
But the senior administration official made it clear there was still hope that Karzai would sign the agreement. "Really what it was was us emphasizing that we're ready to sign, and that we've seen the Afghan people say that they're ready to sign, so now we're waiting for President Karzai," the official said.
Karzai's strongest language was again said to be over American counterterrorism raids on private Afghan homes. Despite having approved in principle a security agreement that allowed for such missions, with limits, in his address to the loya jirga on Sunday, he insisted the raids should be banned immediately and completely or he would cancel the security agreement.
Such raids are the main combat activity remaining to American forces in Afghanistan now, and have been identified by American commanders as a crucial, continuing mission.
"The president insisted on the stance: a total ban on home raids since yesterday," Faizi said. "He assured Madame Rice they will get the BSA. signed — you will get a BSA signed, but give the Afghan people time to see that the US has changed its behavior, that home raids are banned in practical terms."
He said Rice deferred that issue to the American military commander, Gen Joseph F Dunford Jr, who assured that he had given instructions to his forces to "take all necessary measures to avoid civilian casualties and that the commanders will be acting in accordance to the recommendations of the loya jirga and what is said in the BSA," Faizi said. But the Afghans were not satisfied with that reply.
The only point of agreement from the talks, according to Faizi's account, was on another demand that Karzai made during the security negotiations: transparency in elections.
Karzai was referring to what he has called American interference in the 2009 presidential vote, when pressure by American officials in response to allegations of election irregularities led Karzai to agree to a second round of elections.
Rice's visit to Afghanistan is her first foreign trip since taking over as Obama's national security adviser in July. She was scheduled to leave Tuesday.
Karzai expressed his hope that Rice would convey his views to President Obama and then return to negotiate the issues further, Faizi said.
But the White House summary made no mention of any further talks on the issue with Obama, and made it clear the negotiations were considered closed.