KABUL - James Dobbins, U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, has warned the Afghan government that failure to sign the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) would lead to a civil war in Afghanistan, an Afghan official told Xinhua news agency.

The official said on the condition of anonymity that Dobbins had met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai two days ago and the meeting ended up without any outcome after tense talks between the two sides.

The Afghan official quoted Dobbins as saying that "if the BSA (is) not signed, there will be no peace in Afghanistan".

There will be a civil war in this country", Dobbins was quoted as further saying.

The Afghan official said Dobbins also stressed the "zero option ", meaning if there is no BAS, there is no need for U.S.

military presence in Afghanistan.

Explaining Dobbins' remarks, the Afghan official said "you can have good interpretation and bad interpretation also", stressing " it could be a threat".

Karzai have previously reiterated his preconditions for inking the controversial agreement, which include ending military operations in Afghan houses and starting a meaningful peace process in this war-hit nation.

A four-day Afghan Loya Jirga, or grand assembly of the elders and notables which attended by 2,500 people from across the country and concluded on Nov. 27, endorsed BSA with Washington and urged President Karzai to ink it within this year.
However, Karzai said that the BSA would not be signed with United States by his government unless Washington meets all preconditions.

The White House has urged Kabul to ink BSA by the end of 2013, warning not inking the pact would affect U.S. support for Afghanistan.

In spite of overwhelming support by Afghans including parliamentarians to early inking of the contentious security pact, Karzai has categorically pointed out that he is not in hurry to sign it.