DHAKA: Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel says Afghan’s defence minister has reassured him that a security agreement with the United States will be signed in a timely manner.

Hagel met Bismillah Khan Mohammadi during a visit on Saturday to Kabul, the Afghan capital.

Hagel also told reporters that he did not think that more US pressure would be helpful in trying to persuade Afghan president Hamid Karzai to sign the agreement, according to The Straits Times.

Karzai has tentatively endorsed the agreement and a council of tribal elders has said it should be signed by the end of the year, as the US has demanded.

BDST: 2115 HRS, DEC 07, 2013