Kerry and Karzai strike upbeat note in Kabul

KABUL: US Secretary of State John Kerry held a second round of talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul on Tuesday after the two put on a public show of unity in a bid to repair damaged ties.

Kerry visited Afghanistan just after the United States ceded to a key long-standing demand of Karzai by delivering full control of Bagram prison, north of Kabul, to Afghan forces.

Karzai had turned the fate of Bagram and its hundreds of detainees into a rallying cry for his push to take back sovereignty as the bulk of US-led combat troops prepare to leave by the end of next year after more than a decade of war.

The militant threat facing Afghanistan was on Tuesday again underlined when seven suicide bombers targeted a police base in the eastern city of Jalalabad.

All the attackers and five officers died in the assault, for which the Taliban claimed responsibility.

After a series of fiery anti-US outbursts from Karzai in recent weeks, both he and Kerry were keen to make a public display of friendship and stress that relations were back on track.

"Today was a good day for Afghanistan. Bagram prison was handed over to the Afghan government... Finally after many years of effort we have reached a deal," Karzai told reporters at a joint press conference late Monday.

Kerry said: "The US is committed to an enduring partnership... The US supports a strong and united Afghanistan.

"We are committed to Afghanistan's sovereignty and we will not let Al-Qaeda or the Taliban shake this commitment."