AKIPRESS.COM - US President Barack Obama arrived in Afghanistan on Sunday for an unannounced visit to mark Memorial Day with U.S. troops, now in the final months of America's longest war, and to begin final discussions over the size of the U.S. force that will remain beyond the end of the year, says the Washington Post.

Obama departed Washington on Saturday night under cover of darkness and arrived at this U.S. base outside Kabul, the capital, under the same secrecy. It was his fourth trip to Afghanistan as president and his first in two years. The visit lasted less than four hours.

Obama met first with Gen. Joseph Dunford, commander of U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan, and Ambassador James Cunningham to receive a battlefield update and discuss the civilian and military resources needed here after this year to continue training Afghan forces and to assist in specific counter-terrorism missions.

Obama did not meet with Karzai, with whom he has had a stormy relationship, but they spoke by phone for about 20 minutes before Obama left Bagram. A senior administration official said Obama praised Karzai for progress being made by Afghan security forces and for his country's successful first-round election in April and said he continued to support Afghan-led peace negotiations with the Taliban.

A Karzai spokeswoman, Adela Raz, said that the U.S. Embassy tried to arrange a meeting during Obama's visit to Bagram but that the Afghan president declined. Raz said Karzai invited Obama to the presidential palace instead.

A bilateral meeting was not planned, the White House said in a statement, because the trip was "focused on thanking our troops."