Leaked registry handles is a common message in the System Event log, and in my experience they have always been benign. According to Microsoft's KB 947238, this is a housecleaning step when a User Account is closed but registry handles remain open.
Are these the only System messages relating to Afaria within 30 seconds of the Application Event error?
Does the service account have the following permissions on the API server machine: "Log on as service", "Interactive Logon"?
Regards,
Mike Loop - SAP Product Support