American-Afghan relations: Over to you GRIM though much of the news from Afghanistan has been in recent weeks, American and Afghan negotiators have been doggedly at work removing the remaining obstacles to a deal that will do much to determine the country's future after the bulk of foreign combat forces leave at the end of 2014. On April 8th General Abdul Rahim Wardak, Afghanistan's veteran defence minister, and General John Allen, the American commander of the international coalition in Afghanistan, signed an agreement transferring leadership of special operations, particularly so-called "night raids," to Afghans. A wave of unrest after the recent American burning of copies of the Koran belonging to prisoners, as well as the shocking murder of 17 civilians by a rogue American army staff sergeant, may paradoxically have provided a spur for compromise, particularly on the American side. There are ambiguities in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) over what Afghan leadership and American "support" mean in practice, but there is no doubt that the agreement is a personal triumph for Afghanistan's often ineffective president, Hamid Karzai. The night raids are deeply unpopular among ordinary Afghans. Mr Karzai has long insisted that the raids, in which foreign troops often forcibly enter Afghan homes in search of insurgents, must either cease or be "Afghanised." The raids, which the Americans believe are essential for gathering intelligence and capturing mid-level Taliban commanders, will continue much as before. Coalition people say that more than 97% of night operations involve Afghan forces and that almost 40% of night operations are already led by them. In future, however, an Afghan co-ordination group made up of senior army, police and intelligence officers will review and approve all special-operations missions. What is more, only Afghan special forces may search houses and make arrests. The Americans will, however, continue to provide most of the intelligence, transport and firepower for special operations and, probably, a lot of the direction on the ground. The deal over night raids comes exactly a month after agreement was reached on another longstanding issue offending Afghan sensibilities - who should be given responsibility for captured insurgents at Parwan, a giant American detention centre next to Bagram airbase, and other foreign-run detention centres. On March 28th an Afghan general was appointed to take command of Parwan. The transfer of all detainees to Afghan control is to be completed within six months of the signing of the MoU. With both stumbling blocks out of the way, there is no reason why the American and Afghan governments should not now get a wide-ranging "strategic partnership agreement" done and dusted in good time for a NATO summit to be held in Chicago next month. That agreement, setting out the extent and nature of America's long-term military assistance beyond 2015, is aimed both at calming Afghan fears of abandonment and at sending a message to the Taliban. In the meantime, both Mr Karzai and his American ally can take some satisfaction from the two MoUs already signed. From Mr Karzai's point of view, he has gained Afghan sovereignty over two controversial aspects of the conduct of the war. However, as Kate Clarke of the Afghanistan Analysts Network argues in a recent blog, although America has made significant concessions, the Afghan government is now far more at the forefront of the struggle against the Taliban, both in political and military terms. In other words, Mr Karzai may have to curb his infuriating habit of disowning the war whenever he finds it convenient.