By Shadi Khan Saif and Michael Hernandez
KABUL
Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai set the tone for his new government as he oversaw the signing ceremony of the much debated Bilateral Security Agreement with the U.S. on his second day in office Tuesday.
The pact allows the presence of a residual American force, numbered at around 10,000, beyond 2014 when NATO’s combat mission ends in the war-torn country.
Additionally Tuesday, the new national unity government inked a Status of Forces Agreement, or SOFA, with NATO.
Hanif Atmar, former interior minister, who was recently assigned the post of national security adviser, signed the vital security accords with U.S. Ambassador James B. Cunningham and NATO’s Senior Civilian Representative Maurits R. Jochems.
The Afghan president, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, the two vice-presidents, cabinet members and other notable Afghan leaders were also present at the ceremony.
Speaking on the occasion, President Ghani said Afghanistan would maintain its complete sovereignty under the deal aimed at ensuring the country’s security and warding off threats.
“The Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) is in the best interest for peace in Afghanistan, the region and the world at large," he said, insisting the agreement would help strengthen Afghan security forces.
He assured the nation that nighttime raids and civilian house searches would end, as international troops prepare to draw down.
Chief Executive Abdullah also hailed the agreement as a giant step toward stability in the country. "The well-deliberated deals were signed after long discussions based on Afghanistan’s security requirements," he remarked.
Abdullah believed the step would have positive effects on the overall security environment in Afghanistan and the wider region and he predicted that the people would soon realize the significance of the pacts.
In Washington, U.S. President Barack Obama said the agreement would advance “shared interests and the long-term security of Afghanistan,” in a statement released by the White House.
“The BSA reflects our continued commitment to support the new Afghan unity government, and we look forward to working with this new government to cement an enduring partnership,” he said.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said that the new government “took an important step” by signing the security agreements with the United States and NATO, adding that they enable U.S. and coalition forces to “help strengthen Afghan forces, counter terrorist threats, and advance regional security.”
The BSA and SOFA have been pending for years following former President Hamid Karzai’s reluctance to ink them. Karzai’s relations with his western backers disintegrated in the later part of his presidency due to his burgeoning suspicious of western aims.
Former Afghan minister and acclaimed academic Sulaiman Layeq, said that the BSA is timely for Afghanistan.
“Times have changed a lot, and had this been signed a couple of decades ago when the world was still bipolar with the Soviet Union challenging the U.S., I would have called this agreement mere treachery then,” the former communist-era federal minister said.
Layeq added that amid regional and global challenges, allying itself with the U.S. is in the greater interests of Afghanistan.
For his part, Ambassador Cunningham pledged full respect for Afghanistan’s sovereignty and said the U.S. wanted to train and advise Afghan security forces paving the ground for continued U.S. and international aid.
Jochems, the NATO representative, explained that after the end of 2014, NATO personnel would only advise Afghan forces. He insisted that the NATO and American presence would support Afghanistan’s long-term stability and economic prosperity.
But the Taliban released a statement condemning Ghani for rushing into the pact with the Americans and accused him of "surrendering sovereignty."
www.aa.com.tr/en
