Report: U.S. to free 50 Iraqi detainees a day during Ramadan

Above: Guards and detainees at the U.S. internment facility at Camp Bucca. Under emergency powers, detainees may be held upon suspicion and without trial or release date. Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, the number two U.S. commander in Iraq, was heavily criticized by others in the military when in 2003 and 2004, as commander of the U.S. 4th Infantry Division, he ordered 'mass sweeps' of all adult males 16 years or older in problem villages, many of which ended up in Abu Ghraib. Analysts say the insurgency gained strength from Iraqi resentment of his tactics.

Fifty Iraqis will be freed from U.S. prisons in Iraq each day during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, the office of Iraq's Sunni Arab Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi said on Friday.

The U.S. military said this week it had reached a deal with Hashemi to conduct "special Ramadan releases" of detainees during the holy month, which begins in the second week of September.

It was unclear when the releases would start, but the military said they could begin as early as this week. The U.S. military says it is holding 23,000 Iraqis.

"Fifty Iraqi prisoners will be released from American prisons every day during Ramadan," Omar al-Jubouri, an adviser on human rights to Hashemi, said in a statement from the vice president's office.

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