MP blames detainees’ release delay on justice, interior ministries

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: A parliamentarian from the Sunni Iraqi Accord Front (IAF) on Saturday linked the delay in releasing detainees in U.S. and Iraqi prisons to procedures adopted by the ministries of justice and interior. “Initial reports by the U.S. forces say that there is an estimated 15,000 detainees, of which 5,000 face charges and will be referred to the Iraqi court,” MP Shaza al-Abbousi, who is a member of the human rights committee in the Iraqi Parliament, told IraqiNews.com news agency. On November 13, 2008, the Iraqi government signed a security pact with the United States that allows U.S. combat troops to stay in Iraq until the end of 2011 and provides for the release of detainees who have been cleared of wrongdoing. SS (P) 1