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 Without that guarantee, it is highly unlikely that Washington
would agree to the pact. But when parliamentarians were presented
with details of the draft agreement at a largely closed-door session
Saturday, they peppered government representatives with questions
and concerns, Shah Gul Rezayee told The Associated Press.
Rezayee and another lawmaker Mohammed Naim Lalai said the issue will
likely be a key focus of debate at the Loya Jirga, a traditional
council of 3,000 prominent Afghans set to begin Thursday.
They government's National Security Adviser Rangin Dafdar Spanta
emphasized that the Loya Jirga could reject the clause, but in that
case there will be no agreement, the parliamentarians said.
The final decision on the pact rests with Parliament but if the
council rejects it then Afghanistan is unlikely to sign.
Failure to approve the pact would mean that all U.S. troops would
need to leave the country by 2014, when international forces are
scheduled to withdraw.
Parliamentarians asked government officials during the session
whether Afghanistan's soldiers and police could manage without
international troops if the security pact was not signed, according
to a report of the proceedings by the independent Afghan Analysts
Network.
The presence of foreign forces is a sensitive issue in Afghanistan,
particularly if they cannot be held accountable by local courts.
Scores of students demonstrated Tuesday in an eastern city,
denouncing the pact and burning effigies of U.S. President Barak
Obama.
"We don't want any U.S. bases and we want to see U.S. soldiers who
kill Afghans tried in an Afghan court," said Noor Ahmed, a student
of the Islamic University of Nangarhar, in the provincial capital of
Jalalabad.
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The pact also gives the United States sole control of Bagram Air
Force Base, north of the capital Kabul, and access to eight bases,
including one in Kabul, Rezayee and another lawmaker, Khaled Pashtun
said.
U.S. congressional aides in Washington have confirmed the draft
includes "exclusive jurisdiction" for the U.S. over American troops
and contractors. Aides said the agreement says U.S. forces will no
longer be able to enter Afghan homes, addressing concerns about
highly unpopular night raids by foreign troops.
The Bilateral Security Agreement is a sweeping document, which
incorporates the usual Status of Forces Protection Agreement, which
the United States signs with every country where its troops are
stationed. The detailed document covers everything from taxation to
custom duties to a promise to protect Afghanistan against hostile
action.
Without the Bilateral Security Agreement the United States
previously warned that it will remove all its troops by the end of
2014 and an estimated $4.1 billion promised for Afghanistan's
National Security Forces would likely be rescinded.
[Associated
Press; KATHY GANNON]
Kathy Gannon is AP
Special Regional Correspondent for Afghanistan and Pakistan and can
be followed on
http://twitter.com/kathygannon.
AP Writers Rahim Faiez
and Amir Shah in Kabul contributed to this report
Copyright 2013 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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