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Karzai Reiterates US Security Deal Refusal


Afghan President Hamid Karzai departs last day of the Loya Jirga, Kabul, Nov. 24, 2013.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai departs last day of the Loya Jirga, Kabul, Nov. 24, 2013.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has reiterated he will not sign a security pact with the United States until the U.S. agrees to end raids on Afghan homes and to broker a peace process with the Taliban.

Karzai said the two conditions were "absolute prerequisites" for him to endorse the agreement.

The Afghan president made his comments Saturday in New Delhi, the second day of his three-day visit to India.

The security pact calls for U.S. troops to stay in Afghanistan after 2014 to help train Afghan forces in their fight against the Taliban.

The United States has said Karzai must sign the pact by the end of this year, or the U.S. will have no choice but to withdraw all troops after 2014.

Afghanistan's grand assembly, or Loya Jirga, has urged Karzai to sign the pact. But he has said he wants his successor to decide on the security deal after his country's presidential election in April.
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