Transfer of Bagram jail to Afghan control in March

KABUL): The notorious US forces-controlled Bagram detention facility in central Parwan province would be transferred to the Afghan control next month, the Karzai office said.

The Presidential Palace in a statement said the Parwan detention centre, currently being controlled by US soldiers, would be transferred to the Afghan government control within a month.

A decision to the effect was made at a meeting of the judicial committee at the Presidential Palace, the statement said, adding Defence Minister Gen. Abdul Rahim Wardak presented a report on the transfer of centre to the meeting.

The detention facility currently holds 2,600 inmates, ranging from high-profile insurgents to those who have played a more peripheral role in the conflict.

The statement from the Karzai office quoted the defence minister as saying that as many as 600 of the prisoners had so far been transferred to Afghan jails.

The judicial committee suggested the detention centre should be completely handed over to the Afghan government control till March 11, the statement said.

In early January, Afghan investigators accused the US military of abusing detainees at the prison, saying inmates were reportedly being tortured and held without evidence.

On January 5, President Hamid Karzai called for the facility to be handed over to the Afghan control within a month. The move surprised the US, which has been working with the Afghans on a gradual handover to be complete in two years.

frm/ma

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