BAGHDAD, Oct. 6 (Xinhuanet) -- About 6,000 Iraqis and other Arab nationalities were being held without trial in both Abu Ghoraib prison, west of Baghdad, and Pokka prison in Basra, 600 km south of Baghdad, local newspaper Al Mashriq reported Wednesday.

    The health committee of the Iraqi National Council and the legal committee of the Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights visited the two prisons and found that all the detainees there were not tried or even charged with any allegation and most of them were arrested illegally, according to the report. 

    "Among the detainees are teenagers less than 14 years old as well as elders over 60," Ryadh Al Adhadh, head of the health and environment committee of the council, was quoted as saying."Fathers together with their sons were arrested and the handicapped including the blind were also imprisoned with no charge," Adhadh added.

    He also noted that 56 detainees held in the two prisons were from other Arab countries, including Syria, Egypt, Libya, Sudan andIran.

    Pokka prison in Basra is located in a heavily-polluted area surrounded by petrochemical and manure factories which caused diseases among the detainees, said Adhadh. Enditem