DHAKA: An assembly of more than 2,000 Afghan elders is due to discuss the text of a long-awaited bilateral security agreement with the US.

The deal to be debated at the Loya Jirga will determine the presence of US troops in the country after 2014.

A draft reportedly says the Afghan government concedes that US troops will be subject to US justice rather than local courts.

This issue has been a key stumbling block in talks between the two sides.

Washington has said that all its troops would be withdrawn if no legal immunity is agreed.

On Wednesday US Secretary of State John Kerry said they had agreed the text of the agreement with Afghan officials.

"There were some people who may have questioned or doubted whether that was going to happen. Well, it`s happening tomorrow,`` Mr Kerry told reporters at the state department.

"We have agreed on the language that would be submitted to the Loya Jirga, but they have to pass it."

He said the role of the US military after 2014 would be "limited".

"It is entirely train, equip and assist. There is no combat role for United States forces, and the bilateral security agreement is a way to try to clarify for Afghans and for United States military forces exactly what the rules are with respect to that ongoing relationship," he said.

The Afghan foreign ministry published a draft deal on its website, but it was not immediately clear if it was same one that Mr Kerry was referring to.

The agreement has been the subject of months of tense negotiations and both sides have refused to budge on certain issues.

The Afghans have long opposed US raids on Afghan homes, particularly night raids because they are perceived to violate the sanctity of women in the home.

The US insistence on immunity from prosecution for troops remaining in Afghanistan after 2014 has been central to Washington`s demands.

The failure to resolve a similar legal issue in Iraq led to a total withdrawal of US forces.

Some delegates at the Loya Jirga in the capital, Kabul, have expressed concern at how late the negotiations between the two governments had been going on.

"Whatever is happening with the security pact is very confusing for us," Abdul Hanan, a senator from eastern Paktia province, told Reuters.

Security is tight for the meeting after a suicide bombing last weekend near the huge tent where it is to be held.

President Karzai said he called the Loya Jirga because the security agreement is a matter of national importance.

Even if the assembly approves the bilateral security agreement, it will still have to be passed by the Afghan parliament.

The Taliban has branded the meeting a US-designed plot, and has vowed to pursue and punish its delegates as traitors if they approve the deal.

The bulk of the international military force in Afghanistan is due to have left by the end of 2014.

Source: BBC
BDST: 1028 HRS, NOV 21, 2013
RS/BSK