BRUSSELS: Nato officials warned Afghan President Hamid Karzai yesterday that he must sign a US troop status accord or put at risk future military and development aid for his country.
While planning continues for a post-2014 training and advisory mission after Nato ends combat operations, time is pressing and political and military practicalities mean the agreement must be signed soon, a senior Nato official said.
If there is no Afghan-US accord, there is “no post-2014 mission” and likely all the funding and other commitments that go with it, the official told a briefing ahead of a two-day Nato foreign ministers meeting beginning today.
Current NATO aid for Afghan armed forces runs at $4.1 billion (3 billion euros) a year, of which Kabul would only be able to raise $500 million, said the official who asked not to be named.
The handling and “appropriate oversight” of aid is a key issue post-2014, given concerns over corruption, and the official said donors would be worried if there was no US and alliance presence to enure it was spent as intended.
Without an agreement, funding “in theory could continue to be forthcoming...but in practice there must be a question whether donors would have the confidence to contribute,” said the official.
In Kabul, Taliban insurgents fighting against the US-backed Afghan government expressed their support for Karzai’s refusal to sign a security pact.
“It seems he has sensed the truth, and we hope this opposition comes from Afghani pride and is for the sake of ending the nation’s problems,” the Islamists, who ruled from 1996-2001, said in a statement.
“It is obvious to all that the Afghan people have never wanted foreign invaders in their land... He should, without any hesitance, distance himself from this historical shame.”
The Bilateral Security Agreement could see several thousand US troops staying on in Afghanistan to train local security forces and undertake counter-terror operations. Agencies
