Afghan President Hamid Karzai has urged a gathering of Afghan elders to approve a security agreement with the United States, saying the deal would allow 10,000 to 15,000 foreign troops to remain in Afghanistan after the NATO pullout next year.
A draft text of the agreement posted online by the Afghan government said U.S. troops would only enter Afghan homes in exceptional cases -- a point of contention in nearly a year of negotiations on the agreement.
Hours before the meeting, Secretary of State John Kerry announced the two sides had agreed on the final text of the bilateral security pact.