Ulema back Karzai’s stance on jail transfer

 KABUL Council on Saturday asked US forces to transfer the Bagram detention centre to full Afghan control and leave the central province of Maidan Wardak as soon as possible.

In a statement, the council supported President Hamid Karzai’s call for the US military to transfer the jail’s affairs to his administration, saying it had been a long-standing demand of the people of Afghanistan.

It added the Afghans had long been urging the US and NATO forces to stop bombing homes of defenseless civilians, night raids and arrests on dubious charges.

The ulema body also asked foreign troops to stop running detention facilities in the country and avoid insulting their religious book as well as actions that threatened Afghanistan’s sovereignty.

“Afghanistan is a sovereign Islamic nation with a long history of rendering sacrifices to defend its independence, protect its religion and resist attempts at its enslavement,” the council said.

It called President Karzai’s demand for the handover the Bagram jail in central Parwan province north of Kabul to the Afghans and withdrawing from Wardak the voice of the nation.

The statement warned the US of a harsh backlash from the Afghans if it continued to spurn their demands.

The warning comes as several hundred demonstrators marched to the parliament building in Kabul, protesting the continued presence of US special forces in Maidan Wardak.

Karzai has demanded all US commandos leave the province early last week, but agreed to give top US commander Gen. Joseph Dunford more time to find a solution to the security problem in Wardak.

ma/mud

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