New Afghan leader Mr Hamid Karzai said today that US forces would be welcome to stay in Afghanistan until all terrorists have been eliminated from the country.
Asked by CNN how long US forces would be allowed to stay in Afghanistan, Mr Karzai said: "As long as there are these terrorist elements hiding out in Afghanistan and remnants of those forces."
He said until then the US forces could stay.
Asked if Osama bin Laden was still alive in his country, Mr Karzai said he did not know.
"I have no information about that. If he has been killed then it is good news for people all over world to know that a menace is no longer there," he said in the CNN interview.
