Region | Iraq
Freed Abu Ghraib inmates told to work for peace
An Iraqi deputy prime minister urged detainees about to be released from Abu Ghraib prison yesterday to help strengthen peace and security but many seemed more concerned with surviving outside.
- Reuters
- Published: 00:00 June 16, 2006
Abu Ghraib: An Iraqi deputy prime minister urged detainees about to be released from Abu Ghraib prison yesterday to help strengthen peace and security but many seemed more concerned with surviving outside.
In a carefully orchestrated media event, Salam Al Zobaie stood on a podium and tried to sell the government's national reconciliation programme to Iraqis still trying to figure out why they were held without charge in the US-run jail.
But he quickly learned that the new Shiite-led government may need to do a lot more than just announce the release of 2,500 Sunni Arab detainees to narrow sectarian divisions.
Hesham Hamad, 19, said he was detained by US forces after they discovered part of an old artillery shell in his home.
"The Americans found it. Do I look like a terrorist? I have been here seven months. Nobody will give my job back now," said the former security guard at an oil facility.
Ali Sobhi, a farmer, said he had been in detention for six months just for breaking a curfew.
Others wanted quick assurances that they would be safe in cities which have witnessed a rise in beheadings, bombings and shootings during their time at the Abu Ghraib prison that became notorious for its prisoner abuse two years ago.
"We heard gunmen are informed that there will be a prison release and then they will kill us," said one detainee. The 200 prisoners were part of the third group of 2,500 inmates that Shiite Prime Minister Noori Al Maliki said last week would be freed under a national reconciliation drive.
Reuters
Joy of reunion
Relatives wave to freed inmates at the US-run Abu Ghraib jail in Baghdad yesterday.
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