KABUL - A number of political leaders have opposed President Hamid Karzai's plan for a Loya Jirga of tribal elders to decide on the question of US forces immunity from Afghanistan's legal jurisdiction after 2014.

Some political parties and coalition groups said that the continued presence of US troops is essential for Afghanistan's stability after NATO withdraws in 2014 and it should not be up to the tribal elders to decide on a matter which the presence of US forces hinges on.

"Legal immunity is not a big enough issue to sacrifice all the achievements and opportunities ahead for," board member of Right and Justice party Asif Ashna said.

National Coalition spokesman Fazlurrahman Oria told TOLOnews, "A traditional Jirga [on this matter] has no place in the country's constitution, and not all its decisions may be implemented."

The exemption of US forces from prosecution under Afghan law is one of Washington's conditions for its troops to remain in Afghanistan after 2014.

However, some parliament members disagree with the US demand for immunity and believe that the Afghan people are similarly against it.

"US troops should not have legal immunity and should be punishable under Afghan law for any crime they may commit," MP Kamal Nasser Osooli said.

"The Afghan people do not agree on us giving US forces immunity from Afghan law," said another MP Alemi Balkhi.

US President Barack Obama warned Karzai during their meeting in Washington last week that if Kabul does not allow the US troops immunity from prosecution in Afghanistan, then American forces will completely withdraw.

There are fears that such a move will leave a security vacuum after 2014 similar to that which Iraq faced when the US withdrew over the same issue.

All international forces currently in Afghanistan are exempt from prosecution under Afghan law. In case of any crime committed, troops are disciplined according to the laws of their own countries. (Tolo News)