Afghan leader in crucial US visit

7 January 2013 Last updated at 22:28 ET

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Quentin Sommerville reports on the US troops returning from Afghanistan

President Hamid Karzai is due to arrive in the US on Tuesday for a visit that could decide the future of the US presence in Afghanistan.

His three-day trip will include a meeting with US President Barack Obama, at a time when correspondents say relations between the two countries have been more fractious than usual.

Mr Karzai wants US troops out of Afghan towns and villages.

Most foreign combat troops will leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

The Afghan leader is due to see President Obama on Friday, their first meeting since the US presidential election. Ahead of the trip, the White House issued a statement saying Mr Obama "looks forward to... discussing our continued transition in Afghanistan, and our shared vision of an enduring partnership" between the two countries.

The BBC's Quentin Sommerville in Kabul says the US president is likely to discuss the size of the force that remains, and whether they are there to fight the Taliban or shift their primary focus to tackling al-Qaeda.

The visit comes days after a drone attack that killed Pakistan militant leader Mullah Nazir, who was accused of sending fighters to Afghanistan to support the Taliban.

Partnership fears

Mr Karzai is expected to provide a request for future requirements for the Afghan military such as heavy weaponry, an improved air force and medical support.

Our correspondent says the US spent almost $120bn (£74bn; 91bn euros) in Afghanistan in 2011, a figure that diplomats in Kabul say will be increasingly difficult to justify because of economic problems at home and extensive corruption within Afghanistan.

Meanwhile Mr Karzai has held back from signing a long-term binding security agreement with the US, amid fears that Afghan sovereignty is being undermined.

He is unwilling to grant US soldiers immunity from prosecution and is unhappy that Afghans are still being held in US-run military prisons on Afghan soil, our correspondent adds.

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