Kabul: Afghan President Hamid Karzai said that Afghanistan wants to take control of the nation’s security in 2013 not 2014, media reported on Thursday.
According to reports Karzai told Panetta that US should pull out its troops from villages adding that Afghanistan is ready to take overall security responsibility.
“Our demand is that this process should be executed sharply and the responsibility should be handed over to Afghans.”
Karzai said both sides should work together so that the process of handing security from international troops to Afghan forces would be completed in 2013 rather than 2014, the statement said.
Panetta’s visit had been billed as an opportunity to smooth over relations with Afghan leaders, which took a severe knock when a US soldier allegedly massacred 16 villagers on Sunday and copies of the Holy Quran were burnt last month.
Panetta said after the meeting he was “confident” the United States and Afghanistan would work out a treaty allowing a US military presence in the country beyond a pullout in 2014.
Panetta said he was optimistic that both sides would reach an agreement on night raids — a major issue blocking the treaty — ahead of a NATO summit in Chicago in May.
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