By JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press Writer
16 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - President Bush held up Afghanistan as a model of emerging democracy and anti-terror partner, but President Hamid Karzai came to their meeting Monday waving a long list of grievances associated with U.S. involvement in his country's struggle to recover from decades of instability.
At Karzai's Oval Office session with Bush, the centerpiece of a four-day U.S. visit and the two leaders' first such get-together since September, the Afghan leader hoped to win a commitment for a long-term — perhaps permanent — U.S. military presence in his country. But Karzai also said in advance of the meeting at the White House that he wants greater control over American military operations there.
Approximately 20,000 U.S. troops are in Afghanistan, and there is no end in sight to their mission — including the still unfruitful search for al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. That is in addition to about 8,200 troops from NATO countries in Kabul and elsewhere. But there has been little U.S. receptiveness to the idea of a rigid, permanent arrangement there.
Karzai also said that he wants to take over custody of the hundreds of Afghans detained in military jails in Afghanistan and at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, during and after the 2001 U.S. invasion that ousted the repressive Taliban regime.
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more:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050523/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_afghanistanWonder how the after meeting press conference will go? :shrug: