Karzai: US, NATO Partly to Blame for Violence in Afghanistan
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MASSOUD HOSSAINI/AFP/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Afghan President Hamid Karzai is holding the U.S. and NATO at least somewhat responsible for what he refers to as “insecurity” in Afghanistan.
During an interview with NBC News on Thursday, Karzai suggested that the structures set up by the coalition over the past 11 years are to blame for the ongoing violence in his country.
The president, now in his second term, was quick to add that the Taliban and other insurgent forces remain the main obstacles to peace.
Yet, in a sign of rough sledding ahead, Karzai made it clear that any post-war security pact he signs with Washington must include an agreement by the U.S. to turn over hundreds of prisoners to Afghan authorities.
And in another apparent slap at President Obama and his administration, the Afghan president remarked that Afghans won’t permit their “government to enter into a security agreement, while the United States continues to violate Afghan sovereignty and Afghan loss.”
The U.S. and NATO forces are due to withdraw from Afghanistan sometime during 2014.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio