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            Afghan Meeting Opens to Discuss US-Afghan Security Pact

   by VOA News

   Thousands of Afghan elders have gathered in Kabul for a three-day
   meeting to debate a security agreement with the United States.
   The gathering, known as a "Loya Jirga," began on Thursday after days of
   discussion over what would be included in the bilateral agreement,
   which is meant to shape the security relationship between Washington
   and Kabul after the departure of NATO troops next year.
   U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced Wednesday that the United
   States and Afghanistan had reached an agreement on the final text of
   the bilateral security pact.
   Afghan President Hamid Karzai negotiated the agreement with U.S.
   officials, but the Loya Jirga must give its approval before the
   document goes to the Afghanistan parliament for a vote.
   The group can revise or reject any clause of the draft agreement, and a
   flat-out rejection would most likely prevent the Afghan government from
   signing it.
   Security in Kabul is high, with offices closed and dozens of
   checkpoints set up along the route leading to the site of the meeting.
   Taliban insurgents, who have staged a 12-year rebellion in Afghanistan,
   have condemned the meeting and threatened to target the delegates if a
   deal is approved.
   A key sticking point had been whether Washington would agree to offer
   assurances that U.S. troops will enter Afghan homes only in
   "exceptional" circumstances to save lives.
   The issue gained attention Tuesday after Afghan presidential spokesman
   Aimal Faizi said the two sides had agreed to allow home raids if
   President Barack Obama writes a letter acknowledging mistakes by the
   U.S. military in Afghanistan.
   However, later on Kerry said Karzai did not ask the U.S. to apologize
   for civilian casualties.
   The so-called Bilateral Security Agreement is seen as vital to lasting
   peace in the war-torn nation, where the United Nations said the Taliban
   insurgency this year reached levels of violence not seen since 2010.
   Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Afghanistan's election commission announced
   the final list of candidates for next year's presidential poll, which
   will be the country's first-ever democratic power transfer.
   Karzai, who was appointed following the U.S.-led invasion of 2001, must
   step down after serving two terms.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/afghan-meeting-opens-to-discuss-usafghan-security-pact/1794592.html