US, Afghan Leaders Discuss Troop Withdrawal
Local Editor
US President Barack Obama is to meet Tuesday with his Afghan counterpart Ashraf Ghani, who has asked Washington for "flexibility" on the pace of US troop withdrawal from the war-torn country after a presence of more than a decade.
Obama is "actively considering that request," Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters Monday, after a day of talks in the presidential woodland retreat of Camp David in Maryland.
Hailing a day of "productive talks," Kerry said the two countries shared "a commitment to security and peace and a desire to promote prosperity and social progress."
"And that means we are going to put our house in order," he told soldiers and senior US officials at a Pentagon ceremony on his first official visit to Washington.
The issue of troops is set to top Tuesday's White House talks with Obama, and Ghani diplomatically refused to be drawn when asked how many soldiers he would like to see remain.
"The question on numbers is a decision for the president of the United States, and that decision will solely be made by President Obama," Ghani said.
It was a new tone compared to that heard from former Afghan president Hamid Karzai, who had had a tempestuous relationship with Obama and repeatedly criticized US officials for interfering in his country.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
