US Sen. Lindsey Graham addresses a news conference as Sens. John McCain, left, and John Barrasso listen at the US Embassy in Kabul on Thursday.
Top American senators have threatened the Afghan government with Å“negative impact” of President Hamid Karzaiâ„¢s decisions over the bilateral relations between Washington and Kabul.
Senators Lindsey Graham, John McCain, and John Barrasso, who were on an official trip to Afghanistan, urged Karzai to sign a bilateral security deal and halt the release of 88 Bagram prisoners.
Afghanistan plans to release some prisoners from Bagram prison, saying there is not enough evidence to keep the prisoners detained.
However, the United States says the prisoners are a threat to security.
“If this release goes forward, it… would have an unbelievably negative impact on the future relationship between the American people and the Afghan government,” Graham told reporters on Thursday.
Graham said freeing the prisoners would do “irreparable damage” to US-Afghan ties.
“The 88, to me, represent a defining moment in our relationship,” he said after the senators met with President Karzai.
Senator McCain said he expected the deal to be signed soon.
“As a result of our long meeting with President Karzai we have narrowed those differences and I believe we can look forward to signing the Bilateral Security Agreement … sooner rather than later,” McCain said.
The Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) provides a legal framework for continued US military presence and operations in Afghanistan.
US President Barack Obama had pledged to withdraw all American soldiers from Afghanistan by 2014. Under the BSA, if approved, between 12,000-14,000 foreign troops, mostly Americans, will remain in the country beyond 2014.
The Afghan president has postponed signing the deal unless a set of demands that he put forward are met.
The demands include an end to US military raids on Afghan homes and the issue of legal immunity for the US soldiers.
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Source: Press TV