“Based on many reasons, and I can prove this, the ongoing war in Afghanistan is being imposed on us and Afghans are being sacrificed in it for someone else’s interests. We are not blocking the interests of the United States or other major powers. But we are demanding that if you consider Afghanistan the place from which to advance your interests, then you should also pay attention to Afghanistan’s interests. We are not demanding anything else.”
-- Afghan President Hamid Karzai in an exclusive interview with RFE/RL on November 26.
Akbar Ayazi, Regional Broadcast Director for Radio Free Afghanistan and Radio Mashaal, interviewed Karzai on Tuesday for the president's first public comments since surprising local leaders and international diplomats by rejecting a long-term security pact framing the terms of U.S. presence in Afghanistan after combat troops withdraw in 2014. Karzai says he has two demands before he'll sign a security agreement with the U.S. and that he'll approve the document as soon as those demands are met.
For additional comments on this RFE/RL interview, please contact me or Akbar directly at +420 221 123 242 / ayazia@rferl.org.
Read the Gandhara blog for additional news from Afghanistan, and find RFE/RL breaking news online and at Twitter and Facebook.
-- Karisue Wyson
-- Afghan President Hamid Karzai in an exclusive interview with RFE/RL on November 26.
Akbar Ayazi, Regional Broadcast Director for Radio Free Afghanistan and Radio Mashaal, interviewed Karzai on Tuesday for the president's first public comments since surprising local leaders and international diplomats by rejecting a long-term security pact framing the terms of U.S. presence in Afghanistan after combat troops withdraw in 2014. Karzai says he has two demands before he'll sign a security agreement with the U.S. and that he'll approve the document as soon as those demands are met.
For additional comments on this RFE/RL interview, please contact me or Akbar directly at +420 221 123 242 / ayazia@rferl.org.
Read the Gandhara blog for additional news from Afghanistan, and find RFE/RL breaking news online and at Twitter and Facebook.
-- Karisue Wyson