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Up to 15,000 foreign troops could stay in Afghanistan

But he stressed that not all would be American, saying there would be troops from other NATO countries and “some other Muslim nations”.

And he gave a frank assessment of his often thorny relationship with Washington, his principal foreign backer.

“America does not trust me and I do not trust them. I have had struggles with them and they have spread propaganda against me,” he said.

The Taliban have condemned the jirga as an American plot and threatened to target its delegates if they approve the deal.

Last week a suicide bomber detonated a car bomb near the jirga area, killing 12 people.

A draft text released by Kabul late Wednesday appeared to show Karzai had bowed to a US demand that American troops would not be tried in local courts if they are accused of crimes an issue that became a major hurdle in the negotiations.

A similar security deal between the United States and Iraq collapsed in 2011 over the issue of whether American troops would be answerable to local courts, leading Washington to pull its forces out.

But the text, published on the Afghan foreign ministry website, said Kabul had agreed that the United States should have “the exclusive right to exercise jurisdiction” over its forces in Afghanistan.

“Afghanistan authorises the United States to hold trial(s) in such cases, or take other disciplinary action, as appropriate, in the territory of Afghanistan,” it said.

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It adds the deal will remain in force “until the end of 2024 and beyond”, unless either side ends it.

Kerry said the remaining forces would have “a very limited role, it is entirely train, equip, and assist. There is no combat role for the United States forces.”

The draft deal also said that while US military operations against Al-Qaeda may be “appropriate” in the fight against terrorism, the two sides would cooperate closely to protect US and Afghan interests “without unilateral US military counter-terrorism operations”.

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