South Asia News
Afghan students protest US-Afghan pact
Nov 20, 2011, 11:45 GMT
Kabul - Over 350 students on Sunday took part in a protest in eastern Afghanistan against an Afghan-US strategic partnership agreement endorsed by tribal elders during their annual tribal meeting.
The students from Nangarhar University protested in the city of Jalalabad.
'The protest lasted for around two and half hours. It was a peaceful demonstration with no violence,' Hazrat Mohammad Zemarai, provincial police spokesman, said.
More than 2,000 tribal and local leaders attended the four-day meeting, known as a Loya Jirga, where they backed President Hamid Karzai's plan to negotiate a long-term security pact with the United States - with certain conditions attached.
They also demanded an end to NATO raids against insurgents and asked Karzai to pursue peace talks with the Taliban.
Islamist militants showed no interest in the meeting, which was convened to discuss a pact that governs the presence of US troops in the country after 2014, when most foreign forces are expected to withdraw or take on a support role.
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