President Hamid Karzai will on Sunday begin a four-day visit to the United States, his spokesman said _ a trip expected to include talks with American leaders on long-term military aid and the fate of Afghans held in U.S. jails. Between visits to American universities, Karzai is to meet in Washington with U.S. President George W. Bush and other top officials including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, spokesman Jawed Ludin said Tuesday. Karzai has said he will use the trip to press his hopes for a "strategic partnership" with the United States encompassing long-term political, economic and military assistance to Afghanistan, despite a week of violent anti-American protests at home. On Saturday, he also said he would request that the United States transfer Afghans detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and military jails in Afghanistan to Afghan authorities, and demanded more control over U.S. military operations. Karzai, who has enjoyed strong U.S. support, is to begin his visit with a speech at Boston University, and end it at the University of Nebraska in Omaha. Both institutions are to award the Afghan leader with honorary degrees, The Associated Press reported. In Washington, Karzai was also to meet lawmakers and the new head of the World Bank, Paul Wolfowitz, Ludin said. Precise details of his schedule were not released.
