The accusations complicated U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s recent trip to Afghanistan.
A joint news conference with Karzai was abruptly cancelled as was the planned handover of Bagram Prison.
“I told the [Afghan] president it was not true that the United States was unilaterally working with the Taliban in trying to negotiate anything," Hagel said.
Talks between the U.S. and the Taliban designed to start an Afghan peace process were suspended a year ago.
Analysts who have recently traveled to Afghanistan say there is little faith such negotiations would produce a meaningful reconciliation.
“[There is] Great concern that the peace negotiations might turn out to be hollow and little more than an extension of war by other means,” said Anthony Cordesman, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
There are now more than 350,000 Afghan troops nationwide, but doubt remains about whether they can protect the country.
Elections are scheduled for next year, but security and transparency are concerns.
“It is already clear that this is going to be a time of very deep tension. It is something where everyone we talked to was concerned, sometimes frightened of what might happen,” Cordesman said.
There are currently about 66,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan. The total is expected to drop to about half that number by early next year.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25