Prisoners' families angry over delay

By Sarah El Deeb
The Associated Press

	MUHAMMED MUHEISEN / AP An Iraqi embraces a relative who was released yesterday by the U.S. Hundreds of people waited for hours, hoping relatives would be among the first detainees freed under a much-publicized amnesty.
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About 80 men were freed, but U.S. officials said they weren't part of the amnesty, and most Iraqi families left disappointed and angry at America.

U.S. officials announced this week they would begin freeing as many as 500 nonviolent detainees in an amnesty program designed to encourage public support, thus arousing hopes among families of an estimated 9,000 prisoners in military custody.

The first 100 were to be released yesterday from Abu Ghraib prison, where Saddam Hussein's regime tortured and murdered its opponents.

L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator in Iraq, said the amnesty was a conciliatory gesture as the United States seeks to win goodwill. Other coalition officials said they hoped it would encourage more people to come forward with intelligence tips.

However, instead of generating goodwill for the coalition, the entire exercise appeared to have the opposite effect.

"Liars! Liars! They won't let them out!" one woman screamed in dismay before fainting. A coalition spokesman insisted that the prisoner release was on track, but would be done quietly for reasons of "security and privacy."

At first light, hundreds of Iraqis gathered at the prison in hopes of greeting loved ones. As the hours passed, the crowd grew frustrated.

Late in the afternoon, two truckloads of prisoners emerged from the compound, driven a half-mile away and deposited in the middle of the road.

People rushed to their cars in pursuit, and a chaotic scene ensued as prisoners hugged and kissed relatives.

But a U.S. official said it was a routine release of prisoners who were not covered by Bremer's amnesty. Most of those who had gathered outside the prison did not find their loved ones.

"This has nothing to do with Bremer's announcement. These are the ones who are routinely released every week," said Lt. Col. Roy Shere, a spokesman for the 800th Military Police Brigade which runs prisons in Iraq.

Those released appeared to include those loyal to Saddam — as well as people who said they were simply in the wrong place when U.S. troops were attacked.

Basel Basel, 25, was arrested in July in the northern city of Mosul on suspicion of "planning attacks against Americans" and seemed to think he was among prisoners granted amnesty.

If amnesties continue, he said, "maybe there will be a reconciliation (because) all these people inside are innocent," said Basel, a former member of Saddam's Fedayeen militia.

There were many other claims of unjust detentions: Bedouins arrested as they tended sheep; a son taken away because he was near an attack on American troops; a name given to U.S. troops to settle an old score; a father arrested because he had a rifle in his car.

"Everyone in Iraq has a gun," said Karim Mohammed, 30, who was detained along with his brother but released 10 days ago. He said police came to their home and asked for his brother by name, then arrested the two when they found an AK-47 in their home.

The release of detainees has been a top demand of community and tribal leaders, as well as human-rights advocates.

Coalition officials insisted that the amnesty release program was on track.

"(Bremer) said that approximately 100 would be ready to be released today. They are ready," coalition spokesman Dan Senor said. But he said their release was being held up as officials waited for guarantors for their good conduct to step forward.

Bremer said Wednesday that those to be freed include Iraqis who worked against the U.S. occupation, but no one with "bloodstained hands."

Senor said the schedule of the releases would not be announced "for both security and privacy reasons."

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