Pact on prisons’ transfer to Afghan control soon: Faizi

KABUL) to the Afghan government control, a presidential spokesman said on Thursday.

Talking to Pajhwok Afghan News in an interview, Aimal Faizi said a high-ranking military delegation had been constituted to conduct the handover process.

“It is one of the main preconditions set by the traditional Loya Jirga for signing the strategic agreement with the US,” Faizi said, adding both the countries would also discuss the issue of night raids, once the transfer of prisons to the Afghan control was agreed upon.

Rejecting the claims about differences between President Hamid Karzai and his national security advisor, Rangin Dadfar Spanta, on the strategic pact, Faizi said some progress had already been made on the agreement.

In mid-November, the grand assembly gave a green signal to the Afghanistan-US strategic pact that allows the creation of American military bases in the country for a decade. However, the delegates had set certain conditions, including respect for Afghanistan’s sovereignty and an end to night raids by foreign forces, for the agreement.

Aimal Faizi few days ago told Pajhwok that Afghanistan would not ink the proposed agreement as long as recommendations of the traditional Loya Jirga, including the transfer of all prisons to Afghan control, were not implemented.

He agreed President Karzai was under pressure for signing the agreement before the Chicago Conference scheduled for May 2012, as it was reported by western media.

President Karzai, citing reports of human rights violations, on Jan 5^th ordered the transfer of the US forces-run detention facility at the Bagram airfield in central Parwan province to Afghan control within a month.

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