President Karzai won’t sign U.S. deal immediately

MASSOUD HOSSAINI/AFP/Getty Images

Afghan president Hamid Karzai (left) talks as the head of the Loya Jirga, Sebghatullah Mujaddidi (right), listens during the first day of a meeting of around 2,500 Afghan tribal elders and leaders in Kabul on Thursday. Kabul rejected the council’s request to sign a security deal with the U.S. soon.

KABUL, Afghanistan — An Afghan assembly has called on President Hamid Karzai to sign a security deal with the United States by the end of the year.

The Afghan president says he won’t sign security deal with U.S. immediately, despite council request.

MASSOUD HOSSAINI/AFP/Getty Images

Members of the Afghan Loya Jirga listen during the first day of a four-day meeting on Saturday.

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The 2,500 members of the national consultative council known as a Loya Jirga endorsed the deal Sunday in a resolution. It will enable thousands of American soldiers to stay beyond a 2014 deadline, primarily to train and mentor government security forces struggling to face a resilient Taliban insurgency on their own.

Rahmat Gul/AP

Afghan delegates discuss on the third day of the Loya Jirga, or the consultative council in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Saturday.

Karzai had asked for the deal to be signed after April 5 elections.