BAGHDAD, 28 August 2005 — The US military announced yesterday that it had released around 1,000 prisoners from the infamous Abu Ghraib prison over the past three days amid efforts to win Sunni Arab endorsement for a new Iraqi constitution.
A statement confirmed that most of those freed were Sunnis although it added that they represented different Iraqi communities and stressed that none was suspected of serious acts of violence.
It was the largest single release from the jail since the US military took it over as a detention facility in the aftermath of the March 2003 invasion.
Those freed had been brought to Abu Ghraib from different detention centers around Iraq ahead of their release, the US military said.
“Those chosen for release are not guilty of serious, violent crimes such as bombing, torture, kidnapping, or murder. All have admitted their crimes, renounced violence, and pledged to be good citizens of a democratic Iraq,” the statement said.
“This major release, the largest to date, marks a significant event in Iraq’s progress toward democratic governance and the rule of law,” the statement added.
The move satisfied a longstanding demand of Sunnis, who form the bulk of the detainees in the prison which lies in a Sunni-majority area between the capital and the flashpoint city of Fallujah.
But five of the top Sunni Arabs in government spoke out yesterday against the draft constitution, a major blow to deadline efforts to craft a document that can win the backing of all Iraqi groups.
Sunni negotiators sought changes in the draft on the eve of a Parliament session to approve it.
US diplomats worked furiously to mediate a deal among the Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni Arab delegations so that the National Assembly can receive a document accepted by all — enhancing chances for an easy approval by the voters in the Oct. 15 referendum.
The Shiites and Kurds have accepted the draft, but parliamentary approval over Sunni objections would be a severe blow to President George W. Bush’s hopes that the document could lure Sunni Arabs from the insurgency and hasten the day US troops could go home.
Sunni negotiators submitted counterproposals yesterday on the issues of federalism and the program to purge former members of Saddam Hussein’s Baath party. There was no response from the Shiites and Kurds, who said compromises they submitted on those issues Friday were their final offers.
US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad held meetings with various negotiators and Parliament Speaker Hajim Al-Hassani in a late-hour to broker an agreement acceptable to the Sunnis.
But prospects for a final-hour compromise dimmed further when four Sunni Arab members of the Cabinet and one Sunni deputy prime minister declared they object to 13 provisions in the draft — more points that Sunni negotiators cited in talks Friday.
Among other things, the five Sunni leaders objected to measures reserving posts for members of specific religious groups, asked for postponement of any decision on federalism, wanted all references to Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party removed from the draft and insisted that the constitution identify Iraq as an Arab — and not just an Islamic — country.
The statement was issued by Culture Minister Nouri Farhan Al-Rawi, Minister of State for Women’s Affairs Azhar Abdel-Karim, Minister of State for Provincial Affairs Saad Al-Hardan, Industry Minister Osama Al-Najafi and Deputy Prime Minister Abed Mutlaq Al-Jbouri.
