John Kerry says partial Afghan security deal reached

Saturday, October 12, 2013

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, leans in toward Afghan President Hamid Karzai as they say goodbye at the end of a news conference at the Presidential Palace in Kabul, Afghanistan Saturday, Oct. 12, 2013.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, leans in toward Afghan President Hamid Karzai as they say goodbye at the end of a news conference announcing a tentative agreement between the two countries at the Presidential Palace during Kerry's unannounced stop in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2013, as a deadline approaches for a security deal about the future of U.S. troops in the country. (AP Photo / Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

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KABUL, Afghanistan -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says a partial agreement has been reached with Afghanistan on a security accord but the potentially deal-breaking issue of jurisdiction for American forces remains unresolved.

Kerry told a news conference Saturday that if there is no deal on the issue there will not be an agreement to allow American troops to remain in the country after the NATO-led military mission ends next year.

President Hamid Karzai says that he will let a national council of elders and then parliament decide on the issue of who has jurisdiction for any crimes committed by U.S. forces in Afghanistan after 2014.

Kerry says jurisdiction is not an issue of immunity and the U.S. will prosecute any wrongdoing by American forces.

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