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Translated from Arabic from: AZZAMAN NEWSPAPER --- Issue 1680 --- Date 9/12/2003 Reliable sources have assured (Az-Zaman) that the coalition forces have released a number of the officials of the former regime from their detention centers in the outskirts of Baghdad. The sources added that Dr. Sa’doun Hammadi, the former head of the National Assembly, was the most prominent person to be released after having been cleared from charges of committing crimes against Iraqis or the Coalition Forces. Dr. Hammadi was not listed among the 55 wanted, but he was arrested several months ago. The same sources revealed that the release order included General Sa’di Tou’ma, former Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Samir Abdul-Wahab al-Sheikhly, former Minister of the Interior, Colonel Rashid al-Tikriti, one of Saddam’s adjutants and a number of the advanced cadre of the dissolved Ba’th party at the district and local level. >From a total number of 150 persons released, mostly former army personnel who have shown good behavior during their detention and who have not been convicted of crimes, were also relatives of Saddam against whom there were no charges or convictions or any record of violations. The sources added that the coalition authorities in charge of Abu Ghuraib prison where the detainees were, took the decision to release those after riots broke out and a strike was carried out by the detainees with the participation of those detained on criminal charges. The sources stated that the strike began with the first day of Eid al-Fitr, covering 11 camps which form the main large camp known as Abu Ghuraib Camp. Each camp is made up of 22 tents, with the total number of detainees being 9000, including officials of the former regime, prisoners of the US operations in Diyala and Tikrit as well as ordinary criminals and thieves. Az-Zaman has received information that at least one person was killed from among those detainees wounded by the shooting carried out by guards of the Coalition forces after refusing to comply with several calls to end their strike broadcast from loudspeakers while helicopters were circling over the camp during the strike. The same sources give the reasons behind the strike, as told by released detainees, as the feeling among those detainees of their full and intentional isolation, not having been visited by the Red Cross or media outlets for which they had asked the Camp authorities to arrange. Other sources have attributed the reason for the strike to the protest by political and military detainees against being detained with ordinary criminals and thieves. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Protect your identity with Yahoo! Mail AddressGuard http://antispam.yahoo.com/whatsnewfree _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk