A second batch of Iraqi detainees were released on Sunday after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered release of 2,500 prisoners for the sake of national reconciliation, a police source said.

Up to 580 detainees were released from U.S.-run detention centers and Iraqi custody in addition to the first 600 detainees set free on Wednesday after a special committee reviewed their cases, the source said.

According to the Iraqi human rights ministry, a total of 28,700 detainees were being held in Iraqi and U.S. prisons across the country as of April 30, 2006.

Maliki said on Tuesday that those with no Iraqis' blood on their hands would be released after a leading Sunni politician Adnan al-Dulaimi demanded the release as a way to calm ongoing sectarian violence.

Source: Xinhua