Hopes that the US can fix conditions for a long-term military presence in Afghanistan before an unofficial May deadline are fading because Afghan President Hamid Karzai is not prepared to compromise on two demands that have stalled negotiations for months. Washington and its allies want to have the US-Afghan strategic partnership agreed to before May, when a NATO conference in Chicago is expected to pledge long-term help to Kabul with finances and military training.
But negotiations have dragged on for over a year and Karzai is adamant he will not give ground on his two main demands – for Afghan control of jails and an end to night-time raids on Afghan homes. Western officials say the first is not practical and the second would compromise the military effort. “If they don’t change their position there will be no strategic partnership before Chicago,” said a senior Afghan official familiar with the negotiations. “We are not willing to compromise when it comes to sovereignty.” The strategic partnership deal would allow US forces to stay in some current large bases in Afghanistan, to help train Afghan soldiers and police. The bases could also be used for drone strikes on militants in Pakistan. The deal would give western leaders a security rationale for spending money in Afghanistan after combat troops are withdrawn in 2014, and also aims to reassure Afghans the west will not cut and run. A string of top diplomats and politicians have urged Karzai to sign. “The Afghan government, especially the Afghan president, is under a lot of pressure from all sides – there are some indirect threats being made as well,” said the Afghan official, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the negotiations.
