Afghan President Hamid Karzai told an assembly of elders on Thursday that President Barack Obama had sent him a letter of assurance that a security pact between the two countries was in Afghanistan's best interest.

© Thomson Reuters 2013

Karzai said that Obama promised that U.S. troops would only enter Afghan homes under exceptional circumstances, a request that Karzai has been reluctant to concede to and which held up negotiations until late on Wednesday.The grand assembly of tribal elders and political leaders opened on Thursday to consider the security pact.