Breaking News: Afghan Detainee Agreement Reportedly at Hand

The United States has agreed to hand over detainees to Afghan government control on a far more accelerated schedule than planned, a senior American official said on Friday.

 

Gen. John R. Allen, the American military commander, and Abdul Rahim Wardak, the Afghan defense minister, were expected to formally sign the breakthrough agreement Friday afternoon in Kabul. The memorandum of understanding would officially hand over control of detainees to an Afghan official as of Friday, but also allows for a six-month period of transition to full Afghan control of the American-held detainees, American officials said. As a practical matter, American officials are expected to maintain day-to-day control over the 3,200 detainees, most of them suspected Taliban insurgents