450 detainees released in Iraq

Abu Ghraib: About 450 detainees, who were held in US and Iraqi prisons, were released on Tuesday under amnesty.

The move was part of a national reconciliation plan that hopes to put an end to long-term violence.

So far more than 2,500 detainees have been released and this was the sixth batch of detainees to be released from Abu Ghraib and other facilities run by the US military.

They were assembled at the notorious US-run prison west of Baghdad before their release.

"Your release today is part of the Prime Minister's national reconciliation plan," Iraq's National Security Advisor Muwaffaq al-Rubaie said, adding: "This is not a political game, it is a sincere attempt of reconciliation and to unite Iraq."

A US military spokesman in charge of detainee operations said all those released since Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki first spoke of a national reconciliation initiative on June 6 are suspected to be involved in the insurgency, but have committed no violent crimes like bombing, killing, torture and kidnapping.

One of the items in Maliki's 24-point reconciliation programme presented to the Iraqi Parliament on Sunday promised amnesty to detainees who have committed no crimes.