The Iraqi government and the multi-national forces are to release a total of 50,000 Iraqi prisoners in stages during the year 2008, Iraqi national security advisor Muwafaq al-Rubaei said on Sunday."The number of inmates in Iraqi government-run prisons is 24,000 ... in the prisons of Defence, Interior and Justice Ministries," al- Rubaei said.
"The government intends to give them a pardon according to a plan that has to be approved by parliament and a cabinet decree," he added. The statements came at a handover ceremony at Basra's airport, where a memorandum of understanding was signed and control was formally transferred to the Iraqis.
Al-Rubaei said that another plan, co-ordinated with the multi- national forces, would see the release of 26,000 prisoners from detention facilities run by coalition forces.
The pardons come as part of the "ongoing reconciliation process" currently in motion in Iraq, according to the top security advisor. "We believe that, regardless of political turbulence, this will generally enhance the security status in Iraq," he added.
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