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U.S. frees 500 prisoners; 25,800 still behind bars

The move aims to appease Iraqis and to take pressure off the justice system.

BAGHDAD - U.S. authorities freed 500 Iraqi prisoners Thursday in an ongoing push to empty American jails of detainees no longer deemed a threat. But the military says it's still holding 25,800 Iraqis waiting to face charges or be given freedom.

The latest release provided only small relief to a detention system strained to the limit by about 17,000 new suspects captured this year in campaigns to secure Baghdad and its surrounding belts, the military said. U.S. officials worry the overcrowded detention camps are sapping resources and will overwhelm Iraq's struggling justice system.

The periodic releases are seen as both a symbolic gesture to highlight increased security and a needed safety valve. About 6,300 detainees have been released since January.

Flanked by U.S. soldiers, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki addressed the detainees at Camp Victory. "Dear brothers, let's cooperate to shut down these prisons and write a new page of laws with the power of justice," Maliki told the men.

The backgrounds of the prisoners, including any suspected militant links, were not announced. The military issued a statement saying only that the detainees are "no longer an imperative threat to Iraqi/coalition forces and the security of Iraq."

One of the men, who identified himself as Jumaa Khashan, a Sunni from Ramadi, said he was arrested in 2005 on his way to visit relatives in the neighboring town of Khalidiya.

"At first, the treatment was bad ... but this year the treatment became better," Khashan said. "I hope that Iraqis will renounce violence and work together to build a new Iraq."

Other developments

Fighting: There were signs of more unrest in Iraq's second-largest city, Basra, where Shiite factions and Iraqi security forces have been battling for power after the withdrawal of British forces to the edge of the city.

The general director of the Basra education department, Qahtan al-Mousawi, survived an attempt on his life when a roadside bomb exploded next to his convoy in central Basra around 8 a.m., police said. It was the third assassination attempt on top officials in the city in less than a week.

The city's police chief, Maj. Gen. Jalil Khalaf, survived bomb attacks on his convoy twice in the past five days.

Violence: Seven more decomposed bodies were unearthed Thursday in the Lake Tharthar area of Iraq's Anbar province, where a mass grave was discovered five days earlier. At least 12 more people were killed or found dead across Iraq.

Diplomacy: President Bush called the Polish ambassador to Iraq, Gen. Edward Pietrzyk, 57, who was badly wounded when a roadside bomb exploded under his convoy Oct. 3. The general's bodyguard was killed in the attack. "The president called him to thank him for his courage and service in Iraq and check in on his health," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

Diplomacy: Syria has agreed to allow U.S. interviewers into the country to screen Iraqi refugees for admission to the United States, the State Department said Thursday.

[Last modified November 9, 2007, 02:10:59]