Sunday, December 22, 2013

NATO Begins Talks With Afghanistan On A Post-2014 Mission Agreement

Afghan key leaders of the 6th Special Operations Kandak and their U.S. coalition mentors sit in on a mission readiness exercise in Kabul province, Afghanistan, Dec. 17, 2013. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Connor Mendez

NATO Starts Own Talks With Afghanistan on Post-2014 Mission Pact -- New York Times/Reuters

BRUSSELS — NATO and Afghan officials started work on Saturday on drawing up a framework for the alliance to stay on after 2014 despite the fact that a separate pact with the United States, which contributes the bulk of the forces, has still not been signed.

President Hamid Karzai last month defied a consensus in Afghanistan's grand assembly in favour of the security agreement with the United States, and said he would not sign unless certain conditions were met, and even then, not until after April elections.

But with the clock ticking on the current 49-nation mission ending before 2015, NATO and U.S. officials have said they must have agreements in place very soon to govern what happens afterward or risk being forced to withdraw all of the 84,000 soldiers, 60,000 of whom are American.

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More News On NATO Begining Talks With Afghanistan On A Post-2014 Mission Agreement

NATO opens negotiations to allow troops to stay in Afghanistan -- Stars and Stripes
NATO opens post-2014 talks with Afghanistan -- Global Post/AFP
NATO Starts Talks With Afghanistan on Post-2014 Troops -- Bloomberg
NATO open talks with Afghanistan on post-2014 military presence -- Khaama Press
NATO opens talks with Afghanistan -- SKY News

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