NATO Chief: Afghan President Hamid Karzai Will Not Sign The Security Pact

Karzai Unlikely To Sign Security Pact: NATO Chief -- APA

Baku-APA. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) says Afghan President Hamid Karzai will likely leave the signing of a security pact with the US to his successor, APA reports quoting Press TV.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he believes that Karzai will not sign the long-stalled pact until April’s presidential election.

“We haven’t so far seen any progress as regards a signature on the Bilateral Security Agreement, and actually I believe that President Karzai will not sign the security agreement, so it will be for his successor to make that decision,” Rasmussen said on Thursday in Athens, where he was attending a European Union defense ministers’ meeting.

Rasmussen also acknowledged that NATO expects a separate pact with Kabul which would be impossible without a deal with the US.

“There will be a separate NATO Status of Forces agreement, but we will not finalize that Status of Forces agreement unless the Afghans sign the Bilateral Security Agreement between the United States and Afghanistan,” the NATO chief added.

Read more ....

Update: NATO head: Afghan security pact after elections -- AP

My Comment: And NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen is right.