Afghanistan, US solve security pact impasse

[World News Headlines -]

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Afghanistan and the United States have solved a key sticking point in a crucial security pact just two days before it was due to be voted on by Afghan tribal and political leaders, an Afghan official said Tuesday. Aimal Faizi, President Hamid Karzai's spokesman, told reporters in Kabul that the deal would allow US troops to enter Afghan homes once Nato forces withdraw in 2014 but only in "extraordinary circumstances" where there was an urgent risk to life. Faizi said President Karzai and Secretary of State John Kerry spoke by phone Tuesday during final negotiations for the bilateral security treaty (BSA) which will shape Washington's future military presence in the war-scarred nation. Even if a final agreement is reached, Afghanistan has insisted that the BSA must be approved by a mass gathering of tribal chieftains and politicians.

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