Afghan President Hamid Karzai repeated his resistance to signing a security deal with the United States during his final address to the parliament Saturday.
"The people of Afghanistan are not against the security agreement with America, the people of Afghanistan might even be in favor of it, but the people of Afghanistan recognize peace as the main base of life like any other country in the world and any other nations in the world. So if a country wants a security agreement, relations and a military base, that presence must bring peace in Afghanistan," he said.
Karzai added that the last 12 years of war were imposed on Afghans, a reference to the U.S. invasion that forced out the Taliban.
The U.S. has threaten to pull out all U.S. troops by the end of the year if a bilateral security agreement is not reached.
Karzai has previously rejected signing the security agreement before next month's presidential elections.
"The people of Afghanistan are not against the security agreement with America, the people of Afghanistan might even be in favor of it, but the people of Afghanistan recognize peace as the main base of life like any other country in the world and any other nations in the world. So if a country wants a security agreement, relations and a military base, that presence must bring peace in Afghanistan," he said.
Karzai added that the last 12 years of war were imposed on Afghans, a reference to the U.S. invasion that forced out the Taliban.
The U.S. has threaten to pull out all U.S. troops by the end of the year if a bilateral security agreement is not reached.
Karzai has previously rejected signing the security agreement before next month's presidential elections.