U.S. transfers prisoners to Afghan custody

KABUL (Reuters) - The U.S. military handed over a group of suspected Taliban rebels to the custody of the Afghan government on Tuesday, the start of a program to transfer all Afghan prisoners it holds both in Afghanistan and at Guantanamo.

The 12 prisoners, captured at various times by the military since the Taliban's ouster in 2001, will be kept in a newly refurbished bloc of Pul-i-Charkhi prison on the eastern outskirts of Kabul, Afghan officials said.

Taliban prisoners captured by the Afghan government have staged at least two revolts in the past in Pul-i-Charkhi and several have managed to escape from the prison.

The prisoners were transferred from custody at Bagram air base, the hub of the U.S.-led coalition's operations in Afghanistan, north of Kabul.

The transfer is the first of its kind and follows a request by the Afghan government, defense ministry spokesman Zahir Azimi said.

He had no figure for the total number of Afghan prisoners held by the U.S. military in Afghanistan and at the controversial Guantanamo Bay jail in Cuba.

But scores, including some senior Taliban figures, are believed to be held both in Afghanistan and Guantanamo.

Prisoners from Guantanamo will start arriving at Pul-i-Charkhi later this month and inmates will be later tried by a joint Afghan commission, Azimi said.

"Those who are innocent will be set free, but it is the duty of the commission," he said.

Human rights groups have criticized the U.S. government for holding suspected Taliban and al Qaeda prisoners indefinitely and without trying them.

About 385 detainees are kept at Guantanamo.

Several hundred have been freed in the past and many complain of being persecuted and mistreated during detention.