Afghan Loya Jirga likely to favor security pact with U.S.

With the thorny issue of granting immunity from suit to American servicemen assigned to Afghanistan reportedly resolved, analysts here said that the Loya Jirga, the highest policy-making body in the country, would likely approve the bilateral security agreement (BSA) between Washington and Kabul.

"Since the differences with America over certain issues such as the immunity privilege and the search by American forces on Afghan houses have been resolved, the members of Loya Jirga could endorse the security pact," Ahmad Saeedi, a former diplomat and a respected political analyst, told Xinhua on Wednesday.

President Hamid Karzai has always criticized U.S.-led coalition troops for conducting night raids in Afghan villages and searching houses to arrest suspected militants. He said that the U.S. military should track down terrorists in their sanctuaries outside Afghan borders, a reference to Pakistan, where Taliban militants reportedly have sought shelter.

According to Saeedi, the differences over core issues of night raid operations and granting immunity to American soldiers were resolved at the last minute. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday night said it was agreed that the U.S. forces would search Afghan houses only in exceptional circumstances.

The three-day Loya Jirga or grand assembly of tribal chieftains, notables and government functionaries which was scheduled to open Thursday, would be attended by some 3,000 participants. Its main agenda is the security pact with the United States that would enable Washington to keep a limited military presence in Afghanistan after the pullout of NATO-led forces from the country in late 2014.

According to official sources, the United States wants to keep some 10,000 servicemen in the country after the pullout.

Saeedi, like many Afghans, however, was reluctant to take pride in having a security pact with United States. He said the continued chaotic situation in the country and the inability of the Afghan security forces to solve the problem with the Taliban and other militants have forced Afghans to support the BSA. "At the moment and in the present conditions it is necessary to have security pact with America," Saeedi said.

According to some insiders, copies of the BSA have already been prepared in English, Dari and Pashtu languages and would be distributed among the participants of the Jirga amid opposition by some circles.

As expected, the Taliban has strongly opposed the BSA, saying that it will only "legalize U.S. military presence in Afghanistan. " It called on the members of the Loya Jirga to reject the pact.

Hundreds of people marched on the streets in the eastern city of Jalalabad to register their opposition to the BSA. Some politicians in Kabul, including former lawmaker Mawlana Farid, have lashed at the proposed pact, saying that it is like "selling the country" to the United States.

But another analyst and legislator strongly supported the BSA. "Since the poor and war-ravaged Afghanistan needs the long-term support of the international community, only through the BSA will America and some allied nations extend support to Afghanistan on long-term basis," Assadullah Saadati, a member of parliament, said in a television panel discussion on Tuesday night.

He also warned that in the absence of BSA, the armed opposition groups and certain neighboring countries would intensify their meddling in Afghanistan affairs that could further destabilize the conflict-ridden country.