Kerry And Karzai Meet To Discuss Prolonged U.S. Presence

By Bill Chappell / NPR

Published October 12, 2013 at 3:52 AM PDT

This story was published more than 11 years ago.

With the setting of an expected — and repeatedly delayed — news conference in the background, an Afghan worker leaves the area where Secretary of State John Kerry and Afghan President Hamid Karzai were expected to speak Saturday. Their talks on a U.S. military presence in Afghanistan lasted through the afternoon.

The U.S. desire to maintain a military presence in Afghanistan is the subject of talks today in Kabul, where Secretary of State John Kerry is in prolonged discussions with President Hamid Karzai. Most of the U.S. troops would continue training Afghan forces, while another contingent works against terrorist groups.

As for how many Americans would be posted to Afghanistan, NPR's Sean Carberry says a precise number hasn't emerged, but he adds that "through conversations and comments by military officials, the range is about 5,000 to 10,000."

From Kabul, Sean tells our Newscast unit that two main points seem to stand in the way of an agreement -- Afghanistan's request for "a firm security guarantee," he says, in which the U.S. would pledge to act if the country is attacked. But for the U.S., such an agreement would require a treaty and Senate confirmation.

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And American officials want "to be able to conduct counter-terrorism operations here against al-Qaida remnants," Sean reports -- something Afghanistan opposes because it would mean foreign troops would act unilaterally.

As the talks continued Saturday, they expanded well beyond their initial schedule, Sean says. A planned afternoon news conference was repeatedly pushed back; Kerry's departure from Kabul for dinner and meetings in Paris was also postponed.

The U.S. has said it wants to finalize a deal on the issue by the end of October.