Mullen calls on Karzai

KABUL): President Hamid Karzai and the US Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman conferred on Sunday on the security transition process and the overall situation in the region.

During a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Kabul, Karzai and Mike Mullen also discussed efforts at wooing the Afghan Taliban back into the national mainstream.

A statement from the president’s office said that Karzai reiterated his government’s determination to implement the security transfer project gradually across the country by the end of 2014.

A proposed strategic cooperation pact between the US and Afghanistan also figured at the meeting. The draft agreement is yet to be approved formally.

Separately, outgoing US ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry also called on Karzai. The president praised Eikenberry’s contribution to strengthening Afghan-US relations.

He thanked the ambassador’s role in getting Afghanistan US assistance over the past two years. Eikenberry is being replaced by senior American diplomat Ryan Crocker.

mud/pr

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