Cameron, Karzai in talks in Britain

LONDON, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- British Prime Minister David Cameron and Afghan President Hamid Karzai are discussing plans for working together after British troops withdraw from Afghanistan.

The two leaders are expected to sign a deal to ensure an "enduring strategic partnership" after British troops withdraw from Afghanistan in 2014 by renewing a 2005 agreement that detailed the mutual goal of a "secure, stable and prosperous Afghanistan," The Daily Telegraph reported.

Cameron and Karzai are meeting in Britain Saturday, a day after France announced it's pulling out its troops in Afghanistan a year earlier than it had planned.

Cameron and Karzai are to discuss progress on the security situation in Afghanistan and the status of peace talks with the Taliban.

The deal between the two countries calls for Britain to build an officer-training college in Afghanistan, based on the British Army's Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, and to continue providing aid after British troops withdraw from the country.

Britain has already begun opening new police stations in Afghanistan and supporting education for women.

Cameron wants to be sure Afghan forces can maintain security to prevent the country from becoming a haven for international terrorists.

The meeting comes as Britain's defense ministry confirmed a British soldier from the 1st Battalion of The Yorkshire Regiment had been killed in Afghanistan. The soldier on foot patrol was fatally shot, the Telegraph said. That raises the total of British military personnel killed in Afghanistan since October 2001 to 397.