Kabul, Rabi'II 3, 1434, Feb 13, 2013, SPA - The Afghan government on Wednesday welcomed President Barack Obama's decision to bring home half of the 66,000 American troops in Afghanistan within the next year, saying Afghan forces are ready to take responsibility for the country's security. President Hamid Karzai has been pressing for a faster pace in the withdrawal of foreign combat troops from Afghanistan and agreed with Obama last month to accelerate the handover of security responsibilities to his country's newly trained security forces to this spring - instead of late summer as originally planned. "We are ready to fill the vacuum and we are ready to take full responsibility for security in 2013," Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammad Zahir Azimi told The Associated Press. --SPA 11:40 LOCAL TIME 08:40 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/1078041