Some damage control by US forces

[MrBigDeal]

"A little smoke screen to calm tensions"

Hundreds of prisoners released

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Baghdad - Some clutching the Koran and kissing the ground, the first batch of a planned mass release of 2 500 prisoners walked free in Iraq on Wednesday as part of efforts to heal sectarian wounds and defuse an insurgency.

Vice president Tareq al-Hashemi, a Sunni Arab leader, said a total of 562 detainees had been let out from "US occupation prisons", a day after new Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced the move to help foster national reconciliation.

It was one of the biggest such releases of prisoners held in Iraqi or American jails since US-led forces invaded the country three years ago to topple Saddam Hussein.

Sunni rebellion

Many of those in detention - estimated at more than 28 000 - are believed to be held on suspicion of involvement in a Sunni rebellion against the US-backed, Shi'ite-led government.

The move by Maliki also appeared to be an attempt to shore up his own authority at a time when rivalries within his ruling Shi'ite Alliance have cast doubt over his effectiveness.

Looking exhausted, some of about 100 let free in Baghdad told of how they had spent months - sometimes more than a year - in jail without being formally charged.

"I was detained for almost seven months because the US military accused me of launching rockets at their forces," said Sunni Arab tribal leader Ra'ad Talal Hikmat from the western desert province of Anbar, a rebel stronghold.

"We suffered from bad food and illness," he added.

Many not formally charged

Three buses brought the prisoners to Baghdad's main bus station under US and Iraqi security. As they stepped out, some wept while others smiled and waved at waiting families.

"I spent 16 months in jail without any specific reason. They only questioned me once, accusing me of funding terrorism," said Youssef Khidr, 38, adding he had been arrested by Iraqi forces and then handed over to the US-run Abu Ghraib prison.

Maliki, under intense pressure to end violence, said on Tuesday that the prisoner release would free those who had no clear evidence against them or had been detained mistakenly.

But "Saddam loyalists" or "terrorists" would stay in jail.

It was not clear how many of those to be released were in Iraqi custody and how many were held by the US military.