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| Afghans Compromise on Special Forces Ban | Afghans Compromise on Special Forces Ban |
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| KABUL, Afghanistan — President Hamid Karzai’s government agreed to compromise on his demand that American Special Operations forces immediately leave Wardak Province, according to statements from American and Afghan officials on Wednesday, breaking an increasingly acrimonious impasse. | KABUL, Afghanistan — President Hamid Karzai’s government agreed to compromise on his demand that American Special Operations forces immediately leave Wardak Province, according to statements from American and Afghan officials on Wednesday, breaking an increasingly acrimonious impasse. |
| Tensions over Mr. Karzai’s order grew sharply worse just more than a week ago after the discovery that the American military had ignored his March 10 deadline for withdrawal. | Tensions over Mr. Karzai’s order grew sharply worse just more than a week ago after the discovery that the American military had ignored his March 10 deadline for withdrawal. |
| “I am pleased to announce that following a very constructive series of talks with the president and the leadership of the M.O.D. and M.O.I., we have come to agreement on a plan for Wardak that continues the transition of this critical province and meets the security needs of the people and the requirements of our mission,” Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr. said in a statement, referring to the Afghan Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of the Interior. | |
| The statement offered only a vague sense of timing, saying that full security control in one particular district, Nerkh, would be handed over by American Special Forces and the Afghan Local Police militiamen they train “soon,” with the rest of Wardak transitioning over time. Wardak sits directly to the west of the capital, Kabul, and important roadways run through it, making it a frequent staging ground for insurgent attacks against Kabul. | |
| The dispute came on the heels of complaints related to abuses by American forces and accompanying Afghan men during night raids in the province, accusations the coalition has flatly denied. Some Afghan and Western officials said that groups friendly with Hezb-i-Islami insurgents were responsible for actions leading to the complaints. | |
| The conflict over Wardak has come during a stretch of increasingly strident criticism by Mr. Karzai about Western involvement in Afghanistan, with some analysts saying he is evoking Afghan sovereignty in an effort to shake an image as an American lackey. He recently accused the Taliban and Americans of basically working at complementary ends to destabilize Afghanistan, a charge the NATO secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, recently called “absolutely ridiculous.” | |
| The president’s spokesman, Aimal Faizi, offered his own rejoinder to the secretary general, broadcast on local television this week, a broadside that reflects the growing weariness of Afghans with the war and the decade-long presence of foreign troops here. | |
| “The people of Afghanistan ask NATO to define the purpose and aim of the so-called war on terror, as they question why after a decade, this war in their country has failed to achieve its stated goals, but rather has resulted in the loss of thousands of innocent lives and destruction of their homes,” he said. | “The people of Afghanistan ask NATO to define the purpose and aim of the so-called war on terror, as they question why after a decade, this war in their country has failed to achieve its stated goals, but rather has resulted in the loss of thousands of innocent lives and destruction of their homes,” he said. |
| Additional flash points that touch on issues of Afghan sovereignty have bedeviled relations between Afghans and the coalition in recent months, including a continuing disagreement over issues critical to negotiations about long-term American assistance to Afghanistan. | Additional flash points that touch on issues of Afghan sovereignty have bedeviled relations between Afghans and the coalition in recent months, including a continuing disagreement over issues critical to negotiations about long-term American assistance to Afghanistan. |
| The thorniest of those has been the transfer of the prisoners held by the Americans at Bagram prison. | The thorniest of those has been the transfer of the prisoners held by the Americans at Bagram prison. |
| That transition was meant to take place last year, but a series of delays related to the detention of prisoners the Americans deem high risk has scuttled plans to complete the transfer. That led to an abruptly canceled ceremony during a recent visit to the country by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. | |
| Mr. Karzai has publicly said that he was promised the transfer would happen by the end of this week, but that appears unlikely as the two sides continue to struggle to work through their differences. | Mr. Karzai has publicly said that he was promised the transfer would happen by the end of this week, but that appears unlikely as the two sides continue to struggle to work through their differences. |
| Even while intensifying his ire about specific issues, Mr. Karzai has continued a pattern of conciliatory remarks when discussing the general relationship between his country and the United States. | Even while intensifying his ire about specific issues, Mr. Karzai has continued a pattern of conciliatory remarks when discussing the general relationship between his country and the United States. |
| In remarks broadcast Monday, the president thanked America for its support and said the two governments were committed to an enduring friendship. The comments came shortly after the coalition put out a safety alert cautioning that the stepped-up rhetoric could encourage attacks against its forces. | |
| “My assertions were only for reform, not for reprimand or destruction of the relations,” he said. “Where we see the interests of Afghanistan as very important, vital and fundamental, we want the Americans to respect and recognize those interests.” | “My assertions were only for reform, not for reprimand or destruction of the relations,” he said. “Where we see the interests of Afghanistan as very important, vital and fundamental, we want the Americans to respect and recognize those interests.” |
| Separately, a protest in response to accusations of desecration of the Koran in southern Afghanistan turned violent Wednesday, with four civilians reported killed, and five civilians and two police officers wounded in clashes between protesters and the police, officials said. | |
| The violence, in Musa Qala, a district capital in Helmand Province, erupted over accusations that a district police official had ripped a Koran, though conflicting reports from provincial officials and religious leaders left the facts of what happened unclear. Some claimed that the protests had been stirred up by the Taliban. | The violence, in Musa Qala, a district capital in Helmand Province, erupted over accusations that a district police official had ripped a Koran, though conflicting reports from provincial officials and religious leaders left the facts of what happened unclear. Some claimed that the protests had been stirred up by the Taliban. |
| In Khost Province, a magnetic bomb placed on a vehicle driven by Afghan security forces claimed the lives of two police officers. | In Khost Province, a magnetic bomb placed on a vehicle driven by Afghan security forces claimed the lives of two police officers. |