Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Karzai will not sign security agreement: US spy chief

Karzai will not sign security agreement: US spy chief: The US intelligence chief said Tuesday he does not expect Afghan President Hamid Karzai to sign a security agreement with the United States that would allow American troops to stay after 2014.

Washington has repeatedly appealed to Karzai to sign the bilateral security agreement (BSA) negotiated last year but James Clapper, director of national intelligence, said he had given up hope that the Afghan president would endorse the deal.

"Well, obviously, it takes two to sign this," Clapper told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"And it's my own view, not necessarily company policy, ...I don't believe President Karzai is going to sign it," he said.

His comments were the most explicit yet by a senior US official acknowledging the bleak prospects of Karzai backing the agreement.