KABUL (Reuters/AFP) - A decision on immunity for US troops staying in Afghanistan after the 2014 planned withdrawal will be made by the end of the year, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Monday.“The issue of immunity is under discussion (and) it is going to take eight to nine months before we reach agreement,” Karzai told a news conference in the capital, Kabul, after returning from meetings with US President Barack Obama in Washington.The Afghan government rejected an initial US proposal regarding the question of immunity and a second round of negotiations will take place this year in Kabul, he said.Those negotiations could involve Afghanistan’s Loya Jirga, a “grand assembly” of political and community leaders convened for issues of national importance, he added.When asked if security would deteriorate in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of the Nato-led force, Karzai replied: “By no means... Afghanistan will be more secure and a better place.”The Obama administration has been considering a residual force of between 3,000 and 9,000 troops in Afghanistan to conduct counterterrorism operations while providing training and assistance for Afghan forces. But the administration said last week it did not rule out a complete withdrawal after 2014.The United States is insisting on immunity from prosecution for any US troops that remain.“The US is standing firm by its demand for immunity for its soldiers,” Karzai said. Karzai noted that he had long called for foreign troops to leave Afghan villages, saying that was not where the war on terror should be conducted.Karzai said that once the foreign troops had left the Afghan security forces would be able to defend the country, but they would need financial and technical backing. He said the US had agreed to provide military equipment including 500 vehicles, 20 helicopters, four C-130 transport aircraft and drones for intelligence gathering. Karzai repeated his call on the Taliban to join peace talks, urging them “to come back to their home and join their nation and work for the peace in their country for the development in their country”. Any US troops remaining in Afghanistan would be “in small numbers, very, very small numbers like in Germany, Turkey or South Korea, like in Japan”, he said.