U.S. to hand over prisoners
American and Afghan officials sign a pact on transferring custody of suspected insurgents.
Smoothing over what had been an acrimonious disagreement, U.S. and Afghan officials Friday signed an accord on handing over captured suspected insurgents to the government of President Hamid Karzai.
The custody quarrel over the detainees had been a key sticking point in months of efforts to negotiate a broad agreement governing the U.S. presence in Afghanistan after the NATO combat mission winds down. During this year and next, Afghan forces are to take over increasing responsibilities for safeguarding the country.
Karzai had set a deadline of Friday for the transfer of prisoners at the largest American-run detention facility to Afghan authorities. The agreement does not do that all at once, but sets a speedier timetable than the U.S. had sought.
U.S. Marine Corps Gen. John Allen, commander of the NATO force, called the pact “another example of the progress of transition and our efforts to ensure that Afghanistan can never again be a safe haven for terrorists.” Allen and the Afghan defense minister, Abdul Rahim Wardak, signed the pact at a ceremony in Kabul, the capital.
More than 3,000 suspected insurgents are held at the detention center at Parwan, north of Kabul. The facility was the source of the Islamic holy books that were burned last month — accidentally, U.S. officials said — in a trash incinerator at the adjoining Bagram air base, setting off more than a week of deadly riots.
The Koran-burning incident appeared to give Karzai greater leverage in demanding transfer of the facility. He said that the episode would never have occurred if the Parwan detention center had been under Afghan control.
The U.S. had resisted the transference because many of the prisoners are considered of high value for interrogation purposes, and also because of fear that if Afghans were in charge, many would wind up returning to the battlefield. The United Nations and other organizations also have raised concern about abuse of prisoners in Afghan custody.
Under terms of the deal, U.S. forces will retain day-today control of the prisoners during the transition. The Afghans are to appoint a commander of detention operations, to whom the U.S. will provide “ongoing support and advice” for up to a year. The Afghans also promised to put a legal framework in place to ensure “humane and secure” conditions for holding the detainees.
The prisoner issue had heightened tension between the U.S. and Afghan governments at a time of simmering ill will over the Koranburning incident and the deaths of six American military men who were shot by Afghan soldiers or government workers over a span of eight days.
It remained unclear whether the overall strategic partnership agreement could be completed before a NATO summit in Chicago scheduled for May.
Karzai also has demanded an end to night raids carried out by U.S. forces.
The military says the tactic has been instrumental in killing or capturing thousands of Taliban fighters and field commanders, but Afghan officials argue that it terrorizes civilians.