Source: BBC

Afghan President Hamid Karzai says he is considering either bringing forward the 2014 date for presidential elections or speeding up the handover of security to his forces.

The president told a briefing that he had been thinking about such a move for several months.

He also said he hoped that Afghan forces would be retained at their current strength at least until 2015.

The president held talks on Thursday with Nato head Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

Speaking about bring forward the election to 2013 or speeding up the transition, the president said that no decision had been taken and it would “not be made soon”.

“I have been talking about this for a few months now,” President Karzai said.

“With all the changes that are taking place – with the complete return of international forces to their homes from Afghanistan and the holding of the presidential election at the same time – whether that will be an agenda that we can handle at the same time.

“It is a question that I’ve had and I’ve frequently raised it in my inner circle.”

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