(9 Mar 2012)
1. Wide of Afghan Defence Minister General Abdul Rahim Wardak and Commander of the United States forces in Afghanistan, General John Allen at signing ceremony
2. Cameraman
3. Various of Wardak and Allen signing agreement on handover of prison
4. Wardak and Allen exchanging documents and shaking hands
5. Close-up of cameraman
6. SOUNDBITE: (English) General John Allen, Commander of the United States forces in Afghanistan:
"Today sets in motion the orderly transfer of the detention facility of Parwan, a process that we have been pursuing for some time. This is an important step. It is a step forward in our strategic partnership negotiations. It is very much in keeping with both the desires of the president of Afghanistan, his Excellency President Karzai, but also with the recommendations of Loya Jirga (big gathering)."
7. Cutaway
8. SOUNDBITE: (Dari) General Abdul Rahim Wardak, Afghan Defence Minister:
"With the signing of today's agreement and finalisation of issues regarding Special Operations, the conditions of Afghanistan have been achieved and the grounds for signing the document of strategic partnership between the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and United States of America will be open."
9. Wide of ceremony
STORYLINE:
The US military signed a last-minute agreement on Friday to transfer its main detention centre in the country to Afghan control in six months - a key step towards a long-term pact on US military presence in Afghanistan.
General John Allen, Commander of the United States forces in Afghanistan, and Afghan Defence Minister General Abdul Rahim Wardak signed the agreement in a ceremony attended by officials in the Afghan capital of Kabul.
The deal removes a sticking point which had threatened to derail the partnership between the two countries and has been critical to defining the US role as it draws down troops in the country.
Friday's agreement extends a deadline set by Afghan President Hamid Karzai for the transfer of some 3,000 Afghan detainees at the Parwan facility, a US-run prison adjoining its Bagram military base outside Kabul, but also for the first time spells out American commitment to a hard transfer date.
Under the deal, the US will still have access to Parwan and will be able to block the release of detainees it thinks should continue to be held.
"Today sets in motion in orderly transfer of the detention facility of Parwan, a process that we have been pursuing for some time. This is an important step. It is a step forward in our strategic partnership negotiations," Allen said.
"With the signing of today's agreement and finalisation of issues regarding Special Operations the conditions of Afghanistan have been achieved and the grounds for signing the document of strategic partnership between the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and United States of America will be open," Wardak responded.
The US and Afghanistan have been in negotiations for months to formalise a role for US forces after NATO's (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) scheduled transfer of security responsibility to the Afghan
government at the end of 2014.
But talks had stalled over the issues of detainee control and night raids by international forces in Afghan villages.
According to the document signed on Friday, an Afghan general will be formally in charge of Parwan, but a joint US-Afghan commission will decide on any detainee releases.
The US government had already handed over a few hundred detainees to the Afghans previously.
The deal does not apply to the approximately 50 non-Afghans at Parwan, who will remain in US custody.
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