WASHINGTON
U.S. President Barack Obama met with his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai in Washington.
Speaking at a joint press conference following a tete-a-tete meeting at the White House, President Obama stressed that the mission of the coalition forces in Afghanistan as of spring would be training, providing consultancy services and assistance.
"Afghan forces would be responsible for the whole security of Afghanistan as of the end of 2014," Obama underlined.
The war in Afghanistan will end at the end of next year, Obama said.
As of spring this year, the mission of the coalition forces in Afghanistan would turn into a "supportive role", Obama stated.
"U.S. troops will fight in Afghanistan when necessary. However, their new task would be to provide training and consultancy to the Afghan army as well as providing assistance. As of this spring, the Afghans will assume leadership in Afghanistan," Obama stressed.
"After 2014, the teams of the two countries will work as part of a security agreement," Obama said.
"We will have two aims after 2014 with due respect to Afghanistan's sovereignty. One of them will be to provide training and assistance to Afghan security forces. And, the second one would be to continue the fight against Al-Qaeda," Obama said.
We have rededicated ourselves to the process of consensus between the Afghan government and the Taliban, Obama underlined.
President Karzai has informed me about the Afghan government's road map for peace, Obama said.
Today, we decided to make progress in this process by letting the Taliban open an office, Obama stated.
The process of consensus must be supported by the region, including Pakistan, Obama noted.
We will work to take concrete steps on this issue since the security and stability of Afghanistan is to the interest of not only the Afghan people and the United States but the whole region, Obama also said.
Agreement on permitting Taliban open an office in Qatar
President Karzai, in his part, said that he could defend immunity for U.S. troops in Afghanistan only if certain issues were solved.
Karzai cited issues such as Afghanistan's sovereignty, the control of detention centers and their getting transferred to the Afghan government and the end to the presence of international forces in Afghan villages.
Only if these issues were solved, could I appear in front of the Afghan people and defend immunity for U.S. troops without making concessions from Afghan sovereignty and Afghan laws, Karzai stressed.
"I was happy to see today that we made progress in certain issues crucial for Afghanistan," Karzai stated.
"We discussed the necessary steps for the peace process. We reached an agreement on permitting the Taliban open an office in Qatar," Karzai noted.
President Karzai underlined the importance they attached to relations with the U.S. and thanked the U.S. for all assistance made to the Afghan people.
