New president to attend NATO summit: Karzai

KABUL summit in the United Kingdom, President Hamid Karzai said on Sunday, ruling out further delay in announcement of election results.

At a meeting with outgoing International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Commander Gen. Joseph Dunford, Karzai hoped the new president would be inaugurated before next month’s summit in Wales.

America’s Ambassador James B. Cunningham and Afghan security chiefs also attended the meeting at the Presidential Palace. The president hailed Dunford’s for maintaining a constructive working relationship with his Afghan colleagues.

A statement from the Presidential Palace quoted Karzai as saying: “I have my own conditions for signing the Bilateral Security Agreement with US and a continued NATO presence in Afghanistan. As I told the Loya Jirga that restoration of security is the most important condition…”

The election process would be completed on schedule and a new president sworn in to attend the NATO summit, he added. “Now that foreigners have become part of the poll process, they should make determined efforts to ensure the announcement of the result in time.”

pr/mud

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