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| Iraq |
| New Group of Iraqi Prisoners Released |
| 2006-06-12 |
| BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - U.S. and Iraqi authorities released more than 200 prisoners Sunday in an ongoing bid to promote national unity, but that effort faltered as Sunni Arabs demanded more releases and the Shiite-controlled parliament locked in stalemate. Sunni Arab Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi congratulated dozens of inmates waiting at the Abu Ghraib detention center west of Baghdad to board buses carrying them to freedom. He urged the Shiite-led government to free more prisoners and demanded compensation for the former detainees. "We will continue the release of detainees until the last Iraqi prisoner is set free," al-Hashimi said, addressing the inmates lined up behind a wire fence, many holding Qurans and prayer rugs. "And this campaign won't stop at U.S. prisons but (will continue) to the prisons run by the interior and defense ministries." The 230 detainees being released Sunday from U.S.-run prisons around the country were among 2,500 detainees that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had promised to release by June 30. The first batch of 594 was freed Wednesday. |
| Posted by:Steve White |