Hand over Bagram to Afghanistan, Karzai tells US

Bagram prison, the infamous American military jail where thousands of prisoners have been held without trial over the course of the last decade, is a violation of Afghanistan’s sovereignty and should be transferred to Afghan forces within a month, president Hamid Karzai said yesterday.

In a series of damning accusations, Mr Karzai said an Afghan investigation had found “many cases of violations” of both human rights and Afghan law, and he demanded the facility be put under full Afghan control no later than 5 February.

The demands, which caught Nato and Washington by surprise, came amid simmering Afghan resentment at being shut out of secret peace talks with the Taleban. Mr Karzai’s office said the decision to take control of Bagram followed evidence from a government commission, which first looked into alleged abuses more than two years ago.

However, it also comes just 48 hours after the Taleban humiliated the president by announcing it had agreed to open a political office in Qatar, for negotiations with the international community, without reference to Mr Karzai.

At least two prisoners have died inside the US-run jail, and the US has been repeatedly accused of denying inmates their legal rights. .