"Deadlines concentrate the mind. But deadlines should not be
dogmas," Ghani told the CBS program "60 Minutes" when asked about
the issue.
"If both parties, or, in this case, multiple partners, have done
their best to achieve the objectives and progress is very real, then
there should be willingness to re-examine a deadline," added Ghani,
who was elected last year.
Asked if he had told that to U.S. President Barack Obama, Ghani
said: "President Obama knows me. We don't need to - to tell each
other."
The White House National Security Council, the State Department and
the Pentagon had no immediate comment.
Afghanistan assumed full responsibility on Thursday for security
from departing foreign combat troops, in a test of the readiness of
350,000 Afghan forces who will bear responsibility for fighting
Taliban insurgents.
The U.S.-led coalition troops formally ended their combat mission
more than 13 years after the Islamist Taliban government was toppled
in late 2001 for sheltering the planners of the Sept. 11, 2001,
attacks on the United States.
About 13,000 foreign troops, mostly Americans, will remain in the
country under a two-year mission named "Resolute Support" to train
Afghan troops.
At least 3,188 Afghan civilians were killed in the intensifying war
with Taliban insurgents in 2014, making it the deadliest year on
record for non-combatants, the United Nations said in a recent
report.
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Ghani added that he was concerned about the Islamic State militant
group and its potential threat to Afghanistan "because the past has
shown us that threats, that networks change their form." The group
has taken over parts of Iraq and Syria.
But U.S. General John Campbell, who leads the remaining coalition
forces in Afghanistan, said in an interview on the same program he
did not see Islamic State "coming into Afghanistan like they did
into Iraq. The Afghan Security Forces would not allow that."
(Reporting by Peter Cooney; Editing by Eric Walsh)
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