A vast majority of 2,500 Afghan elders voted Sunday at a traditional gathering to recommend a joint security agreement with the United States.
Members attending the 4-day-long loya jirga urged President Hamid Karzai to sign it before the end of the year.
Thousands of tribal elders made their way to the capital to join the loya jirga, a grand assembly, to confer on the key issue of whether or not to support the presence in their country of a limited number of US troops beyond next year.
Amid some skepticism, they decided it was a good idea. US Secretary of state John Kerry, who finished hammering out the deal with Karzai the day before the loya jirga began, was hopeful that they would.
The assembly’s decision is not binding, but Karzai has said he will follow their recommendation under one condition that US forces do not conduct house raids.
“If US military forces conduct military operations on Afghan homes even one more time, then there will be no BSA and we won’t sign it,” Karzai said Sunday. “They should give assurance about this to us before I sign it.”
Home raids have been one of the main sore spots between Afghans and Western military presence led by the United States.
In spite of the broad backing, elders wanted to see one article changed. The current agreement gives the United States full jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed by the military on Afghan soil.
Many at the loya jirga would like to see the cases prosecuted on US bases in Afghanistan, so that victims and their families may have their say in court.
The Bilateral Security Agreement also has to be approved by the Afghan parliament.
The deal under discussion may see 15,000 foreign troops remain after 2014, although the US says it has not yet taken a decision on any presence.
The soldiers who stay beyond 2014, when most foreign combat forces leave, would primarily train and mentor Afghan forces. Some special forces would stay to conduct “counter-terror operations”.
“Given the current situation in, and Afghanistan’s need… the contents of this agreement as a whole is endorsed by the members of this Loya Jirga,” a declaration reached at the end of the meeting said.
“The Loya Jirga requests the president to sign the agreement before the end of 2013.”
The assembly’s chairman, Sibghatullah Mojaddedi, said he will resign his official posts and leave the country if the security deal is not signed by the end of the year.
The past few days have seen tense diplomatic telephone exchanges between US Secretary of State John Kerry and President Karzai.
State department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said, “We believe that signing sooner rather than later is essential to give Afghans certainty about their future before the upcoming elections, and enable the United States and other partners to plan for US presence after 2014.
Security has been tight for the meeting after a suicide bombing last weekend near the huge tent where it was held.
