Despite mounting pressure after the recent civilian killings in Afghanistan, President Barack Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain reaffirmed their plans to slowly dial back their military presence. NBC's Kristen Welker reports.
By NBC News, msnbc.com staff and news services
Updated at 1:41 a.m. ET: -- A U.S soldier suspected of shooting to death 16 Afghan civilians has been flown out of Afghanistan, the U.S. military said.
The soldier was taken out of?the country?"based on a legal recommendation," said Navy Capt. John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman in Washington.
"We do not have appropriate detention facilities in Afghanistan," he said, explaining that he was referring to a facility for a U.S. service member "in this kind of case," The Associated Press reported.
A senior U.S. official confirmed to NBC News' Jim Miklaszewski that the soldier was moved to a detention facility in Kuwait. A military lawyer from Joint Base Lewis-McChord was headed to the facility to meet with the soldier.
The decision to move the soldier was made by the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Allen, a senior Pentagon official told NBC News. The official could?not say whether the suspect would be returned to Afghanistan to face any legal proceedings.
The suspect, whose identity has not been released,?appeared before a pre-trial confinement hearing and was ordered held without charges.?Within the next?seven days, he must be granted another pre-trial confinement hearing to determine whether he should remain in custody.? Technically, the process could go on for months before official charges are filed.
U.S. military officials tell NBC News that they expect charges to be filed by at least the end of next week.?The officials say the military is considering filing capital murder charges, which could result in the death penalty.
NBC's Richard Engel reports.
Afghan lawmakers had demanded that the soldier be publicly tried in Afghanistan to show that he was being brought to justice, calling on President Hamid Karzai to suspend all talks with the U.S. about an ongoing military presence here until that happens.
Earlier Wednesday, an Afghan man drove a stolen pickup onto a runway at Camp Bastion, the main British base in southern Afghanistan, before crashing into a ditch -- right around the time that U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's plane was touching down, U.S. defense officials said.
The crash was in the vicinity of where Panetta's plane was supposed to park. The secretary's aircraft had to taxi to a different location. No one in Panetta?s party was hurt, said Kirby.
Panetta arrived in Afghanistan for an unannounced?two-day visit with Afghan officials and U.S. troops -- the first by a senior member of the Obama administration since the shootings of the 16 Afghan civilians, mostly children and women.
Massoud Hossaini / AFP - Getty Images
Afghan Interior Minister Besmullah Mahammadi, center right, walks with US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, center left, in Kabul on Wednesday.
The driver set himself on fire after exiting the stolen vehicle and was being treated for "significant burns" at the coalition hospital at the base, a senior U.S. official told NBC News. One British service member who was hit by the truck was injured, officials said.
There were no weapons or explosives in the truck.
The driver died of his injuries, U.S. Lieutenant General Curtis Scaparrotti said Thursday. The man also tried to run over a group of Marines after hitting the British soldier. There was no indication that the man knew Panetta was arriving at the base, Scaparrotti told reporters.
"At no time was the secretary or the secretary's delegation in any danger whatsoever," George Little, a Pentagon spokesman traveling with Panetta, told reporters Wednesday.
Jangir / AFP - Getty Images
More than ten years after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.
Panetta told soldiers at Camp Leatherneck, the main U.S. Marine base in the volatile area: "We'll be challenged by our enemy. We'll be challenged by ourselves. We'll be challenged by the hell of war itself. But none of that, none of that, must ever deter us from the mission that we must achieve."
He added: "As tragic as these acts of violence have been, they do not define the relationship between the coalition and Afghan forces and the Afghan people."
Panetta also met with Afghan provincial leaders. He told them that the U.S. will "continue to face challenges, from the enemy, from ourselves," but the U.S. "must stay committed to achieving the mission," according to Little.
In Washington, President Barack Obama said Britain and their NATO allies are committed to shifting to a support role in Afghanistan in 2013.
Speaking alongside British Prime Minister David Cameron at joint a news conference in the White House, Obama said that next phase in the transition will be an important step in turning security control over to the Afghans by the end of 2014.
Obama, Cameron stand in united front
Villagers who witnessed the methodical killing are asking for an execution and the U.S. is reportedly considering charges that would carry the death penalty for the soldier who allegedly killed 16 Afghan civilians. NBC's Richard Engel reports.
Obama said NATO forces are making "undeniable" progress in Afghanistan. But he said recent "tragic events" are a reminder that the mission is still difficult.
Panetta's visit to Afghanistan was planned months ago, long before the weekend slaughter that claimed the lives of 16 villagers. But the trip propels Panetta into the center of escalating anti-American anger and sets the stage for some difficult discussions with Afghan leaders.
NYT: An Afghan elder comes home to find a massacre
There were clear concerns about security in the large tent at Camp Leatherneck where Panetta was slated to talk to troops.
Before Panetta came into the hall, Sgt. Maj. Brandon Hall told the more than 200 Marines in the room to take their weapons outside and leave them there. Afghan troops had already been told not to bring their guns in.
A U.S. defense official said the?order was not a reaction to an immediate threat. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the base commander made the decision that no one would be allowed to bring in weapons.
Marines asked to disarm before Panetta speech
Afghans investigating the village massacre had been shown video of the U.S. soldier taken from a security camera mounted on a blimp above his base, an Afghan security official told Reuters.
The footage showed the uniformed soldier, with his weapon covered by a cloth, approaching the gates of the Belandai special forces base and throwing his arms up in surrender, the official said.
The video had been shown to investigators to help dispel a belief among some Afghans, including many members of parliament, that more than one soldier must have been involved because of the high death toll, the official said.
NBC News' Jim Miklaszewski and Courtney Kube, The Associated Press, Reuters and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.
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