U.S. hands control of notorious prison to Afghan authorities

PanARMENIAN.Net - The U.S. military has handed control of a controversial prison housing more than 3,000 Taliban fighters and terrorism suspects to the Afghan authorities, BBC News reported.

In a small ceremony, Afghan officials said inmates had been transferred to their authority. The move is part of a deal to transfer all Afghan prisons back to local control ahead of the withdrawal of NATO forces at the end of 2014.

Bagram prison has been at the centre of a number of prisoner abuse allegations. Although Afghan President Hamid Karzai has hailed the handover, disagreements with the U.S. remain.

Washington is insisting that it will maintain control over some detainees in the prison.

The handover took place at a brief ceremony which correspondents say was poorly attended by U.S. and NATO officers.