U.S. Secretary of State arrives in KabulOctober 11, 2013 - 16:17 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Afghanistan on Friday, Oct 11, to advance negotiations with President Hamid Karzai on a bilateral security pact, weeks before an Oct 31 deadline for an agreement, according to Reuters. The deal will determine the presence of U.S. forces in Afghanistan after 2014. U.S. officials, speaking en route to Kabul, emphasized that Kerry's visit was not about trying to close a deal on a Bilateral Security Agreement. Instead he would seek to build momentum for negotiators to reach a deal after 11 months of talks, they said. "This is not about Secretary Kerry coming in to close a deal," a senior State Department official told reporters. "This is really about us building momentum for the negotiators and helping establish conditions for success of the negotiations going forward." Earlier this month, Karzai’s spokesman said that the U.S. bid to run unilateral counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan after 2014 is threatening to derail the security pact between the two countries. Most foreign combat troops are due to leave by the end of 2014, and the United States has been putting pressure on Afghanistan to finalize a bilateral security agreement by the end of this month. The pact will set out the terms of a U.S. presence after 2014 and will be followed by similar deals with other countries such as Germany and Italy. But two issues have emerged as potential "deal breakers", Aimal Faizi said. One is a U.S. desire to run independent counter-terrorism missions in Afghanistan after 2014, Faizi said. The other was a U.S. refusal to agree to a wide-reaching promise to protect Afghanistan from foreign aggression. Karzai has long opposed operations in Afghanistan by U.S. special operations forces and the CIA, particularly when they run the risk of causing civilian casualties. Related links: Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. Aliyev says no need for mediators in Armenia-Azerbaijan process Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that Baku and Yerevan do not mediators in the process of normalizing relations. Aram I supports Karekin II’s “patriotic position” Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I has expressed support for the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. |