KABUL - President Hamid Karzai met with a delegation from the US Senate to discuss the long-term strategic cooperation agreement between Afghanistan and the US, officials said Monday. A statement issued by the Presidential Palace said that Karzai was joined by US Senator John McCain, ranking member of the US Senate Armed Services Committee, as well as Senators Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman. In addition to the strategic cooperation agreement, the group discussed Afghanistan-Pakistan relations and US-Pakistan relations.
Afghan forces are ready to gradually take over responsibility for security in the country, Karzai told the delegation.

A draft of the US-Afghanistan strategic cooperation agreement is slated to be discussed in the next few months by a traditional ––
Jirga, an assembly tribal elders that will advise Karzai on the matter. The agreement would then be sent for approval to the Wolesi Jirga, the lower house in Afghanistan's Parliament.
The Wolesi Jirga has decided not to participate in the traditional Jirga. A commission led by Sibghatullah Mujaddedi was established for overseeing the Jirga.