The United States has ceded control of its last prison in Afghanistan, the informally dubbed Bagram facility, bringing an end to two years of strained relations and disputes over which country controls prisoners.
The facility, which was initially located on the NATO-controlled Bagram air base, about 25 miles outside Kabul, was rebuilt a few miles away and renamed as the Afghan National Detention Facility at Parwan, BBC reports.
U.S. authorities agreed to the transfer a year ago. But the sticking point was the fate of the facility’s most dangerous detainees, BBC reports. U.S. military forces stayed on to guard about 50 of the prison’s most dangerous inmates, BBC said. And a few weeks ago, a prisoner transfer deal was struck — only to be canceled at Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s request, BBC reported.
Mr. Karzai and U.S. officials talked over the weekend and struck a final agreement on the prisoners’ transfers, BBC said. The deal is certain high-profile inmates will not be released by Afghanis without first facing a full review, BBC said.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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