Afghan President Hamid Karzai has accused the United States of behaving like a colonial power in the dispute over a Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) needed for some U.S. forces to stay in Afghanistan after 2014.
Karzai initially endorsed that accord but has since refused to promptly sign it.
He made his accusation in an interview with the French daily "Le Monde" published on December 9.
Asked whether the United States was behaving like a colonial power, Karzai answered: "Absolutely."
The paper quoted him as saying: "What I have heard in the past days, what I had heard before, is classic of colonial exploitation."
He also accused U.S. officials of making threats, saying: "The threats they are making, 'We won't pay salaries. We'll drive you into a civil war or into a situation of nonpeace.' These are threats."
Karzai initially endorsed that accord but has since refused to promptly sign it.
He made his accusation in an interview with the French daily "Le Monde" published on December 9.
Asked whether the United States was behaving like a colonial power, Karzai answered: "Absolutely."
The paper quoted him as saying: "What I have heard in the past days, what I had heard before, is classic of colonial exploitation."
He also accused U.S. officials of making threats, saying: "The threats they are making, 'We won't pay salaries. We'll drive you into a civil war or into a situation of nonpeace.' These are threats."
