U.S. releases 100 Iraqi detainees

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Source: CCTV.com | 03-20-2009 11:13

The U.S. military has released about 100 more Iraqi detainees in Baghdad. Thursday's move was in accordance with the security agreement which came into effect in January.

Freed Iraqi prisoner Ahmad Jabbar, centre, embraces his mother Um-al Ahmad, with his father Abu Ahmad on the left, after being released at the Um Al-Quraa mosque in western Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, March 19, 2009.  (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

The prisoners were released near the Um al-Qura Sunni mosque in Baghdad's Gazalia neighborhood.

A U.S. army officer said the detainees had initially been identified as what he called "an imminent threat" but that their status had been reviewed.

A US military statement says U.S. forces have been releasing an average of 50 detainees a day.

Under the security deal, U.S. forces will withdraw from Iraqi cities by June the 30th of this year and the entire country by January the 1st in 2012.