Karzai outlines conditions for Afghan-US 'partnership'

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Tuesday that Afghanistan will only sign a long-term "strategic partnership" deal with Washington if the United States meets Afghan conditions, including an end to controversial night raids on homes.

Reuters/Afghan Presidential Handout

The new US ambassador in Kabul, Ryan Crocker, has said the US has no interest in permanent military bases in the country and does not want to project its influence in the region by remaining in Afghanistan.

But fears remain among many Afghans over any long-term American presence in the country following the departure of all foreign combat troops by the end of 2014.

Speaking as he met defence chiefs at his palace Karzai said Afghanistan's conditions included foreign forces working within Afghan legal rules, US troops not taking prisoners or maintaining jails, and an end to controversial night raids by elite commandos.

"Nato and the international community are helping our country. But this will not go on forever and we don't want it forever," Karzai said.

"We are not proud of that. The good news will come when we, Afghans, are protecting our own homeland”.

Critics have said the handover process is premature because Afghan forces are not ready to hold off the Taliban.

Meanwhile, a Nato official made a public apology in the eastern Afghan province of Khost on Tuesday over the death of six civilians killed nearby during a military operation in mid-July.

Nato had originally said it killed six insurgents in the operation on 14 July but ordered an investigation after the provincial government went on strike over the incident.

Provincial governor Mubarez Zadar had said the six dead were civilians, including a 11-year-old girl, and coalition forces had carried out their operation based on false information.