Afghan President Hamid Karzai said today that he could allow the United States to keep nine military bases in the country as part of negotiations over a long-term security pact with Washington.
After more than 11 years of US-led military intervention in Afghanistan, the two countries are hammering out a deal to allow a limited US troop presence to remain when the international coalition leaves next year.
The size of the "residual" force has not been agreed, with numbers ranging from 2,500 to 12,000, according to US officials, as Washington winds down a war that has become deeply unpopular at home.
Soldiers kept in Afghanistan would target Al-Qaeda militants and help train the local army and police -- but a hasty withdrawal could also threaten fragile gains secured since the Taliban were ousted in 2001.
"We are in very serious and delicate negotiations with America," Karzai said. "America has got its demands, Afghanistan too has its own demands, and its own interests... They want nine bases across Afghanistan."
Karzai said he would allow bases in Kabul, Bagram, Mazar-i-Sharif, Jalalabad, Gardez, Kandahar, Helmand, Shindand and Herat if Afghanistan's security and economic conditions were met.
There was no immediate reaction from the US government.
