ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)<br/> <br />STORY: Afghan authorities said on Thursday (March 20) that they have released 55 prisoners Bagram detention centre.<br/> <br />The move comes after President Hamid Karzai's decision last month to release the disputed 65 prisoners is a sign of his growing eagerness to assert his independence from his Western backers.<br/> <br />Authorities said the prisoners were released on the basis that they were detained with insufficient evidence.<br/> <br />The dispute over the prisoners is one of a series of incidents marking a deterioration in ties.<br/> <br />President Hamid Karzai has refused to sign a security pact that would enable U.S. troops, in the country since 2001, to remain beyond the end of the year. He says the accord can wait until after a presidential election in April.
