Obama, Karzai Ink Strategic Partnership Agreement
By RFE RL
(RFE/RL) — U.S. President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai have signed a strategic partnership agreement that will broadly govern relations between the two nations following the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan at the end of 2014.
The agreement outlines U.S. military and financial support to Kabul but does not commit Washington to any specific troop presence or spending.
It allows the United States to potentially keep troops in Afghanistan after the war ends for the continued training of Afghan forces and targeted operations against Al-Qaeda.
Obama arrived on the evening of May 1 at Bagram Air base on an unannounced visit before traveling by helicopter to the presidential palace in Kabul for the signing.
Obama’s trip comes on the anniversary of the killing one year ago of former Al-Qaeda leader and 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden.
