Karzai stalls security talks with the US

Afghan President Hamid Karzai Wednesday suspended talks with the US on a new security deal in protest over his government’s exclusion from the initial peace talks with the Taliban for ending the 12-year war.
Karzai’s move could derail the peace process even before it has begun. 
US officials said Tuesday that the Taliban had agreed to direct peace talks between US and Taliban to begin as early as this week in Doha, Qatar. They were supposed to be followed soon after by a meeting between the Taliban and the High Peace Council, representing the Afghan government. In Kabul meanwhile a ceremony marked the formal handover of security responsibilty from NATO to Afghan National Security forces. Karzai has now cut short this process which is designed to culminate in the departure of US troops from the country in 2014.