Iraq releases more than 450 detainees for national reconciliation

More than 450 Iraqi detainees were released on Tuesday from Abu Ghraib prison as part of a national reconciliation plan aimed at curbing sectarian violence in the war- torn country, a Justice Ministry spokesman said.

The release brought to more than 2,500 the number of detainees freed during the past month.

According to sources from the Multi-National forces in Iraq, the detainees were not convicted of serious or violent crimes such as explosions, torture, abductions or killings.

On June 6, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said detainees would be released from U.S.-run detention centers and Iraqi custody after a special committee reviewed their cases.

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

"Those who will be released are people who are not loyal to ousted President Saddam Hussein or terrorists or anyone who stained his hands with the Iraqi people's blood," al-Maliki said.

"Those who committed killings or bombings will not be released, " he said, hailing release as an important move to reach national reconciliation.

The release is to secure a national dialogue and widen political participation of all the Iraqi factions, particularly Sunni Arabs, backbone of insurgency against U.S. troops and the U. S.-backed government.

Source: Xinhua