US has key relation with Karzai: White House

WASHINGTON (PAN, the White House said Tuesday — the day Secretary of State John Kerry returned from an unannounced trip to the country.

“We have a very important relationship with President Karzai. Most importantly, we have a very important relationship with the Afghan people, the Afghanistan government,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters at his daily news conference.

Kerry was in Kabul groups, the official said.

The two sides discussed how they could continue to work together to sustain the progress they made and to advance their shared goal of a stable, sovereign Afghanistan that was no longer a launching pad for Al Qaida and other transnational terrorists, Carney said.

He added: “The transfer of responsibility for the (detention) facility at Bagram has taken place, and we are continuing to work with our Afghan counterparts as we move forward with the president’s policies on the issues.”

Carney confirmed Kerry had a dinner meeting with Pakistani Chief of Army Staff Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani in Amman on Sunday. “They discussed a range of bilateral security issues, including combating terrorism, the reconciliation process in Afghanistan and regional security.”

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