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 Hagel arrived in Afghanistan on Saturday to visit troops and
senior Afghan officials but, unusually, did not plan to meet
President Hamid Karzai, who has resisted signing the Bilateral
Security Agreement (BSA) which would govern the U.S. military
presence after most NATO forces leave by the end of next year.
Karzai has said he wants to wait until after April elections to
conclude the deal, but Hagel said that could delay any signing until
mid-2014, which he said was undesirable.
"I would say that one of the things that you might want to look at
is the NATO defense ministers ministerial meeting in the end of
February," he said, suggesting a possible deadline. "Some answers
are going to be required at that NATO ministerial."
Hagel met the Afghan defense minister, the deputy interior minister
and the commanding general of the Afghan National Army, but said the
purpose of his trip was to greet troops during the holiday season
and that he had never intended to see Karzai.
There was little he could add to the message conveyed by U.S.
National Security Adviser Susan Rice, who met the Afghan leader in
Kabul last month, he said.
"I don't think pressure coming from the United States, or more
pressure, is going to be helpful in persuading President Karzai to
sign a bilateral security agreement," Hagel said.
A senior U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity,
said Karzai had shown no sign of giving ground.
"Two days ago, President Karzai repeated his position to senior U.S.
officials that he is not yet ready to sign the BSA, and provided no
timeline or practical steps for doing so," the official said.
A year-long negotiation over the text of the document was thought to
have been concluded last month when an assembly of Afghan tribal
elders and politicians, called a loya jirga, approved the pact. But
Karzai surprised everyone during concluding remarks by saying he
still had important demands.
They relate to a desire for the United States to kick-start a
nascent peace process with the Taliban, and an end to raids on
Afghan homes by U.S. forces pursuing militants. Hagel follows several other senior U.S. officials who have visited
Afghanistan without persuading Karzai to sign the deal. He is the
first to visit with no plans to meet the president.
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WANING CONFIDENCE
U.S. officials say further delay in clinching the agreement might
force Washington to consider a "zero option" in which all U.S.
forces would be withdrawn next year.
The NATO commander in Afghanistan, U.S. General Joseph Dunford, also
said there was a need to sign the BSA soon.
"First and foremost I think it's about Afghan confidence. And what
we have seen over the last couple of months, we've seen capital
flight, we've seen some real estate prices go down. So inside of
Afghanistan I think the BSA will provide a degree of certainty that
I think will be very helpful," he said.
The United States has 47,000 troops in Afghanistan and has discussed
plans with Kabul to leave about 8,000 there post-2014.
Despite Hagel's assertion he had never meant to meet Karzai, the
president's spokesman Aimal Faizi said the United States had last
week requested such a meeting on Sunday. Karzai had declined because
he flies to Iran that day for a state visit.
"This morning we were again told that there might be a meeting
around 6 (p.m.)," Faizi said. "Out of hospitality, we did prepare
for a late evening meeting which finally did not take place. It is
as simple as that, and not an issue."
(Additional reporting by Hamid Shalizi;
editing by Ron Popeski and
Alistair Lyon)
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