US transfers jail to Afghan control

The US military signed an agreement yesterday to transfer its main detention centre in the country to Afghan control in six months.

The deal removes an obstacle that had threatened to derail talks between the countries for a partnership that is critical to defining the US role as it draws down troops in Afghanistan.

The agreement extends a deadline set by Hamid Karzai, the Afghan President, for the transfer of about 3,000 Afghan detainees at the Parwan facility, a US-run prison adjoining its Bagram military base outside Kabul. Under the deal, the US will have access to Parwan and will be able to block the release of detainees.

AP