Afghanistan, US solve security pact impasse

KABUL: 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 on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila).

Aimal Faizi, President Hamid Karzai’s spokesman, told reporters in Kabul that the deal would allow US troops to enter Afghan homes once North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces withdraw in 2014 but only in “extraordinary circumstances” where there was an urgent risk to life. The compromise appeared to end an impasse which had threatened to derail the agreement.