Summary Washington says US troops will stay in Afghanistan after 2014 "only at the invitation".
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - The U.S. wants to keep nine bases in Afghanistan after U.S. combat troops withdraw in 2014 which is fine as long as America makes "security and economic guarantees" in exchange, President Hamid Karzai said Thursday in his first public overture in what have been private talks on a future pact between the uneasy allies.
The United States has not formally announced how many American troops might remain in Afghanistan after the end of 2014 when the international military coalition ends its combat mission.
U.S. officials have said as many as 12,000 American and coalition forces could stay to train and advise Afghan security forces and continue counterterrorism operations against al-Qaida and other extremists.
The Afghan government would have to approve any such decision, but months of negotiations over a bilateral security agreement have been troubled with disagreements about the handover of detainees and anger over alleged misbehavior by American troops.
Yet a U.S. defense official in Washington said he had not heard the number nine mentioned. Speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media about the negotiations, the official said the general concept is that the Bilateral Security Agreement would set terms under which the U.S. military would have temporary access to bases in Afghanistan for certain defined purposes, as opposed to the U.S. having permanent bases in the country.
Karzai has made many statements about issues involved in the negotiations, but his comments at a ceremony at Kabul University offered the first confirmation of how many bases the U.S. was seeking to keep in the country.
"We are giving the bases, nine bases they want from Afghanistan in all of Afghanistan," he said.
In return, Afghanistan wants a U.S. commitment to boost Afghan security, strengthen its armed forces and provide long-term economic development assistance.
"It is our condition that they bring security and bring it quickly and strengthen the Afghan forces and the economy," he said. "When they (the Americans) do this, we are ready to sign" a partnership agreement.
Karzai said the U.S. wants to keep bases in Kabul; Bagram Air Field, north of the capital; Mazar-e-Sharif in the north; Jalalabad and Gardez near the eastern border with Pakistan; Kandahar and Helmand provinces, which are Taliban strongholds in the south; and Shindand and Herat in western Afghanistan.
It wasn t clear why Karzai chose Thursday to reveal the U.S. request for nine bases. While he offered specifics about the bases, he was vague about U.S. intentions in Afghanistan after 2014.
"They are looking at their interest and we are looking at our interest," he said. "What is the interest of America? They can explain." Afghanistan-US-unrest-diplomacy-troops
Meanwhile, US troops will stay in Afghanistan after 2014 "only at the invitation" of the Afghan government, and Washington is not seeking permanent bases there, a White House spokesman said Thursday.
White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters traveling with US President Barack Obama to Texas that any US troop presence after that date would be "only at the invitation of the Afghans" and "subject to an agreement."
