Iraq's new prime minister said today he would release 2,500 prisoners, in an apparent bid to shore up his own authority amid signs of tension in his ruling Shia 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 tomorrow, 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 20th at the helm of a US-backed government of national unity.
Maliki had cited the release of those imprisoned without just cause as one of his priorities when his cabinet took office in May.
Such detentions, by Iraqi and US security forces, have been a major source of popular discontent with government.
Today's announcement came amid comments from anonymous political sources that rivals in the Shia Alliance, which dominates the government, have blocked efforts to name interior and defence ministers and believe the government may not endure.
Both portfolios have been vacant since the government was sworn in and some Alliance members outside Maliki's Dawa party believe it cannot last more than six months.