Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Thursday, March 28th, 2024

NATO-Afghan Post-2014 Discussions Focused on Troop Immunity and Aid

NATO-Afghan Post-2014 Discussions Focused on Troop Immunity and Aid

KABUL - Christopher Chambers, the NATO Senior Civilian Representative spokesman, said on Sunday that the issues of immunity for foreign troops and aid disbursement would be the central to discussions about NATO's continued partnership with the Afghan government following the end of its official combat mission in 2014.

While negotiations between the U.S. and Kabul over a Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) have grabbed headlines in recent weeks, NATO also has an agreement to reach with the Afghan government over the extent of its involvement in the country post-2014. In 2010, at the NATO Summit in Lisbon, NATO Heads of State and Government to a continued partnership between NATO and Afghanistan that would last beyond the transition of full security responsibility to Afghan forces. This commitment was reaffirmed at the Chicago Summit in 2012.

Mr. Chambers said that NATO's agreement with the Afghan government, the details of which have yet to be fully negotiated, would not look to set-up or maintain military bases like has been expected of the U.S.-Afghan BSA. Instead, according to Mr. Chambers, the NATO post-2014 agreement would be focused on the legal provisions made for foreign troops remaining in Afghanistan and the exact details of aid disbursements.

"NATO is not interested in maintaining bases in Afghanistan beyond 2014," Mr. Chambers asserted. "Having agreed at the Chicago Summit that our future mission will require a legal framework for it to continue and to go ahead, the Afghan government recognized this and so we are currently in the process of negotiating those terms," he went on to say.

The issue of troop immunity was one of the pressure points in Iraq-U.S. relations as American withdrew its troops from the country. The matter generally pertains to the authority of local courts, in this case Afghan courts, to prosecute foreign soldiers for crimes committed in-country. In Iraq, the parliament refused to grant U.S. troops immunity from prosecution following the withdraw of the bulk of the U.S. army, which caused the U.S. to pull out entirely rather than leaving a residual force as it has wanted to do.

Previously, President Karzai said that the elements of the NATO agreement would be discussed at the Loya Jirga he plans to hold and primarily dedicate to deliberations over the BSA. President Karzai said that he wanted to use the gathering of elders, experts, political parties, coalitions and civil society groups as a way of gauging support for the BSA's stipulations prior to giving it his final seal of approval.

A number of political parties have strongly criticized Karzai's Jirga, labeling it unconstitutional.

"The Jirga is unconstitutional. Any decision taken at the Jirga is not acceptable to the political parties. The BSA should be discussed at the Lower House and not at the Jirga," said Ahmad Zia Massoud, head of the Afghanistan National Front Party (ANF).

Last week, in an interview with Associated Press, Emal Faizi, spokesman of President Karzai, said that the propose Jirga would be convened within the next two months. (Tolo News)