Sepcial Report: Tension accelerates in Iraq

A man just released from the Abu Ghraib prison embraces a relative upon arrival at a central bus station in Baghdad July 8, 2006. An Iraqi woman to their right is holding a picture of her son, who was missing in the Iraq war, in hopes of finding clues about him from the newly released prisoners. (Xinhua Photo/AFP)

    BAGHDAD, July 8 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi government and the U.S. military released 368 Iraqi detainees on Saturday from the Abu Ghraib prison as part of a national reconciliation plan aimed at curbing sectarian violence, a Justice Ministry official said.

    The latest batch of released prisoners brought the total number of detainees set free from Iraqi and U.S.-run prisons across Iraq to 2,721 during the past month, more than the 2,500 promised by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to release, Deputy Justice Minister Busho Ibrahim said.

    The detainees were released after a joint U.S. and Iraqi committee reviewed their cases, Ibrahim added.

    Sources from the U.S.-led multi-national forces in Iraq said that the detainees were not convicted of serious or violent crimes such as explosions, torture, abductions or killings, adding that they had vowed to refrain from violence before being freed.

    According to the Iraqi Human Rights Ministry, a total of 28,700 detainees are currently being held in Iraqi and U.S. prisons across the country till April 30.

    Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki, a Shiite, has described the release of prisoners as an important move to reach national reconciliation and widen political participation of all the Iraqi factions, particularly Sunni Arabs who form the backbone of insurgency against U.S. troops and the U.S.-backed Iraqi government. Enditem