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             US, Afghanistan Begin Talks on Post-2014 Security Pact

   by VOA News

   U.S. and Afghan officials have opened talks that will determine how
   many American military personnel stay in Afghanistan after
   international combat forces leave at the end of 2014. Representatives
   from the two countries discussed the bilateral security agreement
   Thursday in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

   The talks will focus on the main mission of U.S. forces in Afghanistan
   after 2014, and the location and number of American bases. Also on the
   agenda is the sensitive issue of whether American troops can be
   prosecuted under Afghan law.

   Afghan President Hamid Karzai has long said any remaining U.S. military
   personnel should be prosecuted in local courts. Washington stresses
   that any crimes committed should be tried in the United States.

   Failure to strike a similar deal on immunity for U.S. troops in Iraq
   was a factor in ending the American military presence in that country.

   Past actions by U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan -- such as the alleged
   killing earlier this year of 16 civilians by U.S. Staff Sergeant Robert
   Bales, and burnings of the Quran -- have infuriated Afghans.

   Earlier this year, the United States signed a Strategic Partnership
   Agreement with Afghanistan that could keep a contingent of American
   troops in the country after 2014 as advisors and trainers.

   The US-Afghan talks are expected to continue for months.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/afghan-us-begin-talks-on-post-2012-se
   curity-pact/1546618.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/afghan-us-begin-talks-on-post-2012-security-pact/1546618.html