Afghan election campaign starts amid US deal row

Election campaign in Afghanistan is set to begin on Sunday, with 11 candidates competing to succeed outgoing President Hamid Karzai.

Karzai, who has ruled the country since the Taliban’s overthrow in 2001, is barred from seeking a third term, leaving an open field to compete in the April 5 presidential election, which is possible to trigger a second-round run-off in May between the two strongest candidates.

The two-month campaign comes as Taliban militants have threatened to target it, leaving the Afghan police and army with a major challenge of providing security in the country.

The Afghan Interior Ministry hopes to open 6,431 of the 6,845 polling centers, though fear of violence could lead to low turnout.

Meanwhile, the campaign is expected to be dominated by a dispute between Kabul and Washington over the so-called Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA), which will allow the United States to keep thousands of troops in Afghanistan beyond 2014.

Karzai says he will not sign the BSA until certain conditions are met, including a guarantee from Washington that there will be no more raids on Afghan houses. He also wants Washington to guarantee peace in Afghanistan.

“If US is not willing to accept our conditions on the BSA, they can leave anytime and Afghan will go without foreigners,” he said during a press conference on January 25.

The Afghan president also warned that pressure and psychological warfare would not prompt him to sign the deal.

Karzai had previously accused the United States of not providing the country with military supplies in an attempt to pressure him to sign the controversial deal.

Afghan activists say the security treaty between Washington and Kabul will pave the way for a prolonged US military presence in the war-ravaged country.