DEAL

U.S. Agrees to Afghan Prisoners Swap

Most detainees were held at base where Quran was burned.

The United States has agreed to hand over some 3,200 detainees—most of them suspected Taliban insurgents—to the Afghan government Friday in a much faster transfer than previously expected. The deal would allow for a six-month period of transition, but the issue had been a major disagreement in negotiations for a strategic partnership plan, with President Hamid Karzai wanting immediate control of the detainees while the U.S. favored gradual transition until 2014. The issue came to a head last month when Qurans were burned accidentally at the detention center in Parwan where most of the prisoners are held, setting off more than a week of deadly riots.