BAGHDAD, (REUTERS):
Iraq's new Prime Minister said yesterday he would release 2,500 prisoners in an apparent bid to shore up his own authority amid signs of tension in his ruling Shi'ite Alliance.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who has pledged to heal sectarian wounds and crush a Sunni Arab insurgency, said the prisoner release would free those who had no clear evidence against them or had been mistakenly detained.
Initially, 500 people will be released today, he said, but did not give details. Many of those in prison are from ousted President Saddam Hussein's once dominant Sunni community.
"Those who will be released will be people who are not Saddam Hussein loyalists or terrorists or anyone who has Iraqi blood on their hands," said Maliki, who took office on May 20 at the helm of a U.S.-backed Government of national unity.
