Afghanistan to Release Prisoners

Dozens of Afghan prisoners accused of murdering Americans will be released, President Hamid Karzai announced Thursday, upping the stakes in his ongoing confrontation with the U.S. government. Karzai’s latest move comes in the face of warnings from the White House that releasing the prisoners without a trial could mean losing the support of American troops and violate a detainee agreement that was settled between the two governments last year. Afghan officials also lobbed claims that the U.S. is still torturing detainees in illegal “black prisons” and threatened to release additional, more treacherous prisoners.