Kabul: The US Agency for International Development (USAID) will announce three new development programs worth almost $300 million in Afghanistan on Monday (Feb 10, 2014).
Under the USAID initiative, $125 million will go to reviving Afghanistan’s food and farm sector, and another $77 million to opening up the country to greater international trade and investment. The last program, valued at about $100 million, would seek to assist Afghanistan’s educational system. Political circles believe that the promise of a cash handout by USAID comes as Washington is trying to get Afghan President Hamid Karzai to sign a bilateral security pact needed to keep US troops there after this year. Karzai has thus far refused to sign over US demands that its troops receive immunity from Afghan courts in any future criminal cases.
