Karzai vows to step down in 2014

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has vowed to step down at the end of his second term and hold a free election, in which people can elect the next president.

Karzai said at a joint press conference with Obama in Washington on Friday: “The greatest of my achievements eventually, seen by the Afghan people, will be a proper, well-organized, interference-free election in which the Afghan people can elect their next president.”
The Obama administration has been considering having a permanent force of between 3,000 to 9,000 US troops in Afghanistan beyond 2014.
The United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001 under the pretext of combating terrorism. The invasion removed the Taliban from power, but insecurity continues to rise across the country, despite the presence of thousands of US-led troopers there.