Nearly 1,000 Released From Abu Ghraib

[Guest guest]

" Zepp " <zepp

Sat, 27 Aug 2005 09:46:29 -0700

[Zepps_News] #Nearly 1,000 Released From Abu Ghraib

 

 

--~->

 

 

<http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5237744,00.html>

 

Nearly 1,000 Released From Abu Ghraib

 

[Zeppnote: these would be the same thousand who were so dangerous and

so full of hate for America that locking them up without charges and

torturing, beating and raping them was justified. In the name of

Putsch our savior, amen.]

 

 

Saturday August 27, 2005 3:16 PM

 

AP Photo BAG105

 

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - The U.S. military announced Saturday that it

released nearly 1,000 prisoners from Abu Ghraib prison over the past

few

days in response to a request by Iraqi authorities.

 

The move, the largest prisoner release to date, followed appeals by

Sunni representatives to start releasing thousands of prisoners who

have

been languishing in the jail for months without being charged.

 

After a meeting with President Jalal Talabani on Thursday, Sunni

negotiator Saleh al-Mutlaq said the president agreed to release many

detainees before the Oct. 15 referendum on the constitution. Al-Mutlaq

said hundreds of detainees, most of them Sunni Arabs, were to be set

free.

 

The U.S. command said the prisoner release ``marks a significant event

in Iraq's progress toward democratic governance and the rule of law.''

 

``Those chosen for release are not guilty of serious, violent crimes -

such as bombing, torture, kidnapping, or murder - and all have admitted

their crimes, renounced violence, and pledged to be good citizens of a

democratic Iraq,'' the U.S. statement said.

 

Abu Ghraib prison, built by Saddam Hussein's regime in the 1970s on the

outskirts of Baghdad, was retained as a major detention center by U.S.

occupation authorities after the dictator was toppled in 2003. It

gained

international notoriety after some U.S. military personnel were charged

with humiliating and assaulting detainees.

 

Later Saturday, Iraqi police said they released an unspecified number

of

people arrested this week in the region of Madain, 12 miles, southeast

of the capital.

 

Sunni politicians had complained to Talabani that the Shiite-controlled

police picked up 132 Sunnis in the region to prevent them from

registering for the constitutional referendum. The deadline for voter

registration is Sept. 1.

--