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FILE: March 18, 2015: Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani speaks at a military academy in Kabul, Afghanistan.(AP)

President Obama is expected to announce in the coming days a modified plan on U.S. troop withdraw in Afghanistan to help that countrys new government fight the Taliban and other emerging insurgent groups.

New Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has asked Obama to consider some flexibility in his plan to reduce the number of non-combat U.S. troops from 10,000 to 5,500 by years end, as part of his governments emerging national security strategy. And he is expected to make his case personally when he visits the United States from Sunday through Tuesday.

The White House acknowledged Friday that Ghani and Obama have talked about the issue three times in the past four months and that U.S. military officials have presented some recommendations to Obamas team, based on Ghanis concerns.

Jeff Eggers, the National Security Councils senior director for Afghanistan and Pakistan, said that he expects Obama will make a statement on the issue Tuesday, after meeting in Washington with Ghani.

But no decisions have been made yet, he told reporters.

Obama in December 2014 ended Americas combat mission in Afghanistan, bringing an official close to his countrys 13-year war in the country. With two years remaining in the White House, the president would likely want to end all occupation in the largely unpopular war, in which there have been roughly 2,200 U.S. military deaths.

However, Obama has faced sharped criticism from Capitol Hill Republicans and other military hawks for pulling forces out of Iraq, which has now become a hotbed for the growing and dangerous Islamic State radical group.

Ghani hopes to leave Washington next week with a firm commitment for American military support in his fight against an Islamic State affiliate, which he and U.S. military leaders fear is also finding a foothold in Afghanistan.

Ghani's relationship with Washington stands in stark contrast to that of his acrimonious predecessor, Hamid Karzai, whose antagonism toward the U.S. culminated in a refusal to sign security agreements with Washington and NATO before leaving office.

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Obama expected to announce change in US troop withdraw

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus comments before his reelection last week were divisive and make it harder to find a path forward toward peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders, President Obama said in an interview published Saturday.

Obama ratcheted up his confrontation with Netanyahu at the end of a week that saw relations between the U.S. and Israel hit a low. Earlier in the week, as voters headed to the polls in Israel, Netanyahu said he would oppose creating a Palestinian state, reversing his earlier position that a two-state solution was possible under certain conditions.

His comment, which he sought to back off from after the election, provoked a strong response from the Obama administration, which said the U.S. would reassess its policies on Israel, including reconsidering whether to continue shielding its historically close Mideast ally from international pressure in the United Nations. And during a phone conversation Thursday, Obama told Netanyahu that he had set back efforts to move forward on a Middle East peace deal.

I indicated to him that given his statements prior to the election, it is going to be hard to find a path where people are seriously believing that negotiations are possible, Obama said during a Friday interview with the Huffington Post, which was published Saturday.

In addition, Obama said that Israels continued expansion of settlements is not a recipe for stability in the region, and that the U.S. would continue to insist in its conversations with Israeli leaders that the status quo is unsustainable.

Obama and Netanyahu have never been close, though they are in contact frequently, and their relationship appeared to be further strained by another comment the Israeli leader made on election day.

Netanyahu urged his supporters to vote because Arabs were heading to the polls in droves, a warning that many saw as racist.

Obama said in the interview that it was contrary to what is the best of Israel's traditions.

Although Israel was founded based on the historic Jewish homeland and the need to have a Jewish homeland, Israeli democracy has been premised on everybody in the country being treated equally and fairly. And I think that that is what's best about Israeli democracy, Obama said.

If that is lost, then I think that not only does it give ammunition to folks who don't believe in a Jewish state, but it also, I think, starts to erode the name of democracy in the country.

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Obama says Netanyahu's comment complicates goal of Israel-Palestinian peace

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