奧巴馬和卡爾扎伊將在白宮會晤大綱

U.S. President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai meet Friday at the White House to discuss the future role of the U.S. in Afghanistan, their first meeting since Mr. Obama's re-election.

The two leaders will hold a joint afternoon news conference.

Current plans call for the U.S. to withdraw nearly all of its nearly 70,000 troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

But that plan hinges on a number of conditions, including whether Afghan forces will be able to take over security at that time. It is also unclear what will be the role of the Americans who stay behind, if any do remain.

On Thursday, Mr. Karzai met with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Earlier, at the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told Mr. Karzai that the U.S. and Afghanistan have come a long way towards making sure Afghanistan will never again become a safe haven for terrorism.

Mr. Karzai expressed appreciation for the years of support from the U.S. and Afghanistan's other allies.

But while Mr. Karzai has often criticized U.S. actions in Afghanistan, he also has spoken about his desire for some U.S. presence to remain.美國總統奧巴馬星期五在白宮會晤阿富汗總統卡爾扎伊，討論美國今後在阿富汗發揮什麼作用。這是奧巴馬當選連任總統之後他們雙方的第一次會晤。

這兩位領導人定於星期五下午舉行聯合記者會。

按照目前的計劃規定，美國將在2014年年底之前撤走目前在阿富汗幾乎所有近7萬的美軍。

但是，這項計劃取決於很多條件，其中包括阿富汗軍隊屆時是否有能力接管安全事務。目前也還不清楚如果將來有一部分美軍留駐阿富汗，他們的使命是什麼。

星期四，卡爾扎伊會見了希拉裏克林頓國務卿。

早些時候，美國國防部長帕內塔在五角大樓對卡爾扎伊說，在爲確保阿富汗不再成爲恐怖分子棲身之地，美國和阿富汗已經做出長時間的努力。

卡爾扎伊對美國和阿富汗其他盟友多年來的支持表示感謝。

但是卡爾扎伊經常批評美國在阿富汗的行動，不過他仍表示希望一些美軍留駐阿富汗。