KABUL, Afghanistan - President Hamid Karzai signaled Thursday that a security deal with the United States might not be finalized until next year, even if a grand council of Afghan leaders ratifies it this week.
Speaking before the council, a loya jirga, that he had convened Thursday to ratify the bilateral security agreement, Karzai told them: “If you approve this agreement, I want this agreement to be signed after the presidential elections. If you agree to sign this agreement with the Americans, we will ask for some time.”
That would put off at least until April a final agreement that could keep U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan beyond 2014. It was not clear whether Karzai meant that he would sign it or whether he would expect his successor to sign it.
The unexpected request cast uncertainty over the deal’s signing, just hours after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the two sides had finalized the wording of the agreement. While Karzai has in the past raised the issue of handing the decision over to the next administration, U.S. officials had pushed to complete an agreement this year, and the understanding had been that he would sign the security agreement if approved.
A delay in signing the accord could leave the deal vulnerable should Karzai’s replacement oppose any aspect of it.
Beyond that, the Americans have said they need at least a year to plan for any residual force to remain in the country.
A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Kabul declined to comment on Karzai’s plan to delay a final signature.
Given Karzai’s taste for brinkmanship, the development Thursday could be yet another attempt by the Afghan leader to squeeze concessions out of the Americans before the pact is signed.
There was a certain familiarity in much of Karzai’s somewhat rambling speech Thursday, delivered to the gathering at the Polytechnical University of Kabul. While he said he approved the security agreement, he made a point of lashing out at his U.S. allies repeatedly during the hourlong appearance.
Still, given the seriousness of the moment, with his entire loya jirga convened, the criticisms seemed harsher than those of the past.
“There’s a mistrust between me and the Americans,” he said. “They don’t trust me and I don’t trust them.”
