Afghan deal delayed: Karzai in talks with Susan Rice

A long-term security deal between the United States and Afghanistan appears to be in jeopardy. U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice traveled to the Afghan capital and gave President Hamid Karzai an ultimatum. In return, Karzai handed Rice a set of new demands.

Rice believed the two countries had a security deal that would keep about 8,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan after the official pullout next year, but at the last minute Karzai refused to sign.

"If the agreement isn't signed promptly, what I said to the president was that we would have no choice, we would be compelled by necessity, not by our preference, to have to begin to plan for the prospect that we will not be able to keep our troops here," said Rice.

Last week, a grand council of elders and politicians from across Afghanistan approved the deal to leave U.S. and NATO troops in the country after 2014.

But, Karzai suddenly overruled them, saying he won't sign unless the U.S. meets a series of conditions, including a commitment that U.S. soldiers would no longer enter Afghan homes on military operations.

Karzai also demanded the release of 17 Afghan detainees who remain in detention at Guantanamo Bay, and more help from the U.S. in convening peace talks with the Taliban.