Afghan-US Pact Will Not Apply Until Parliament Approves

TOLONEWS

The Afghanistan-US long-term strategic agreement will not be upheld if the Afghan Parliament does not approve it, officials said Monday. Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul and National Security Advisor Rangin Dadfar Spanta went before the Afghan Senate and Parliament respectively to discuss the agreement, and both stressed that the country's lawmakers would have the final say. Speaking before the Senate, Rassoul said the agreement will be valid for ten years and is not applicable unless approved by the parliament. "The agreement is valid for ten years and it is extendable for another ten years if we want," Rassoul said. "But it's not applicable unless [Parliament] approve it." Some members of Parliament (MPs) asked the government officials to provide a copy of the draft in order to discuss it within parliament. "We have the right to see the draft - we need two or three months to discuss it," MP Daoud Kalakani said. However, Spanta said the draft will be provided to the MPs only after it is signed by the both presidents, adding that this was also the case in the US. When asked to explain this, he said the signing of the agreement by both countries' presidents was conditional on the agreement of their respective governments. "When its signed by the US President, then we can provide the draft to you," he told the MPs. Officials told TOLOnews that the Afghan-US strategic pact was rewritten 23 times during its 18 month-long negotiation period. Rassoul told the Senate that the agreement acknowledged both countries as independent and equal, and it respected the sovereignty of Afghanistan. "As per the United Nations mandate, Afghanistan and US will be considered as independent and equal countries after signing the agreement," he said. "US will respect the national sovereignty and independence of Afghanistan and is committed to transferring security responsibility to the Afghan forces," he told the senators. The agreement also says that Afghanistan should be named an "important Nato ally" and that the US is committed to training and equipping Afghan security forces for a decade after 2014. It does not contain any dollar amount for how much the US will commit each year, despite earlier calls from President Hamid Karzai for this to be included in the agreement. While the document does not specify what the US will provide in terms of ongoing security support, notably, there will be no permanent military bases, Rassoul said. "The US has once again emphasised that it is not interested in having military bases in Afghanistan which might be seen as a threat to our neighbors," he told the Senate. However, Spanta meanwhile told parliamentarians that talks about US permanent military bases were not off the agenda, and that this issue will be revisited a year after the strategic agreement is signed. "After signing the strategic pact, a separate security agreement which will allow or not allow the existence of US permanent bases in Afghanistan will be signed after one year if agreed," Spanta said. Afghan and US officials finalised the Afghan-US strategic pact on Sunday which is expected to be signed at the Chicago summit in May. The agreement titled "Enduring Strategic Partnership Agreement between Afghanistan and the United States" was initialed "final" by Spanta and the US Ambassador to Afghanistan Ryan Crocker during a ceremony at the National Security Council.