No U.S. aid to Afghanistan until BSA is signed U.S. Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), the chairman of the Senate Armed Service Committee, met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Thursday and told him that the United States will not be able to provide any financial assistance to Afghanistan until the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) between the two countries is signed (Pajhwok). Levin, who is in the country for a week-long trip, added that he was struck by all of the positive changes hes seen in Afghanistan since he first started visiting about 12 years ago and that continued international aid was warranted to maintain the countrys progress. Gen. Bismillah Mohammadi, Afghanistans defense minister, told reporters at a news conference in Berlin on Thursday that hes optimistic that the Loya Jirga (grand assembly) will approve the BSA when it meets next month (Pajhwok). The jirga will review the agreement, which will determine the size and scope of the U.S. mission post 2014, and determine whether or not it should be signed. Among the many issues they will consider is the one of jurisdiction - whether U.S. troops who remain in the country and are accused of crimes will be immune from Afghan law or not. Afghanistans Independent Electoral Complaint Commission (IECC) announced on Thursday that it had received 313 complaints challenging the initial list of presidential and provincial council candidates, the vast majority of which had been filed by Kabul residents and disqualified candidates (Pajhwok). While the IECC did not say how it was going to address these complaints, rejected presidential candidates gave the countrys Independent Election Commission (IEC) 48 hours to explain why they had been disqualified from running (Pajhwok). The former candidates, who have formed a union of sorts, said their documents should be vetted by the IEC with their representatives present. They also said that if their concerns were not addressed, a future line of action would be announced. Intelligence operatives with Afghanistans National Directorate of Security detained 21 children in Laghman province on Wednesday who were allegedly being taken to Pakistan to receive suicide attack training (Pajhwok). According to Nasrullah Nasrat, the agencys provincial spokesman, the children - aged between 7 and 12 - were picked up from various places in Nuristan province, and then moved through Laghman.
Posted on: Sat, 26 Oct 2013 14:25:57 +0000
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