Foreign meddling won’t be brooked: Karzai

KABUL will not put up with foreign interference in the process.

Karzai made the remarks at a meeting with US Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham at the Presidential Palace late on Wednesday night, according to a statement from his office.

The Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) between Kabul and Washington, the Afghan-led reconciliation process, next year’s presidential elections and the overall regional situation figured prominently at the meeting.

Karzai said the Afghans wanted the security pact with the US should be signed on the condition that it guaranteed Afghanistan’s territorial integrity, peace and a strong central government.

BSA negotiations, which were suspended last month, would resume as soon as Taliban members, the president said.

Over the past seven months, he added, Afghans had been concerned at US policy toward their country in the wake of his visit to Washington in January, trilateral meetings in London and Brussels and the opening of the Taliban’s office in Qatar.

For their part, the American lawmakers promised efforts at confidence-building between the two countries and conveying Karzai’s views with President Barack Obama.

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