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IRAQ WRAPUP 5-US frees Iraq prisoners as Sunnis resist charter

Posted on: Saturday, 27 August 2005, 11:38 CDT

By Michael Georgy

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Saturday it had freed 1,000 detainees from Iraq's notorious Abu Ghraib prison at the Baghdad government's request, in the largest release to date.

It was not clear if the decision was linked to a demand by Arab Sunnis opposed to a draft constitution that authorities release Sunni prisoners so they can participate in a referendum on the text and elections later this year.

Negotiations on the constitution, involving leaders from rival sectarian and ethnic groups and U.S. diplomats, continued amid a battery of conflicting public statements.

There were signs of splits within the Sunni camp, with other delegates saying that some Sunnis had been won round to a compromise proposal from the Shi'ite and Kurdish-led government while some Sunni leaders said they saw nothing to agree on.

It remained unclear what would happen next or even if parliament would meet as previously announced on Sunday.

Speaking of the prisoner releases, U.S. military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Steven Boylan said: "I know this is a big one, but I can't say if it is related to anything that is going on."

A statement from President Jalal Talabani's office said prisoners from the town of Madaen, just south of Baghdad, had also been released. Sunni negotiators had also demanded freedom for Sunni prisoners from Madaen.

Whether or not the releases were part of negotiations on the charter, they are likely to ease concerns over the estimated 10,000 Iraqi prisoners held in U.S. detention centres in the country.

"This is a good move that we definitely welcome," said Hussein al-Falluji, one of 15 Sunnis on the panel drafting the constitution.

Parliament Speaker Hajem al-Hassani said a draft constitution with new proposals on disputed points such as federalism would be reviewed by Arab Sunnis and the chamber would receive a response on Sunday.

Later, however, some delegates cast doubt on whether that timetable would hold after two weeks of missed deadlines.

Sunnis are fiercely opposed to federalism, fearing it would give Shi'ite and Kurdish leaders dominating the government control over oil resources in northern and southern Iraq.

The plight of prisoners in the U.S.-run Abu Ghraib, once one of Saddam Hussein's most feared prisons, has been one the most emotional issues for Iraqis since a U.S.-led invasion toppled the former Iraqi president in 2003.

A scandal broke in the facility west of Baghdad last year when leaked photographs of U.S. military guards abusing prisoners and forcing them to simulate sexual acts provoked an international outcry.

"This major release, the largest to date, marks a significant event in Iraq's progress toward democratic governance and the rule of law," said a U.S. military statement.

CONSTITUTION DEADLOCK

Shi'ite and Kurdish leaders are hoping to get Sunni leaders on board for the constitution in a bid to neutralize an insurgency that has killed thousands of security forces, U.S. troops and civilians.

But negotiations over the charter, described as a blueprint for democracy by Shi'ites and Kurds, and a possible trigger for civil war by the Sunnis, have been deadlocked for weeks.

Falluji is the kind of Sunni that the government wants to win over in order to pacify Sunnis in the insurgency.

He is a lawyer from Abu Ghraib -- a district which is a guerrilla stronghold despite being home to the prison -- who is willing to try politics. But he was not optimistic about a deal.

"I don't think there will be an agreement because we find federalism in principle unacceptable and that has been our position from the start."

The fate of former members of Saddam's Baath party is also an obstacle. Some Shi'ite politicians say they should never be allowed back into public life. Sunnis advocate a softer line, saying not all former Baathists have blood on their hands.

"There was a concession on Baathism but we believe this is a political matter and we should not include it in the constitution at all," said the Sunni Falluji.

Sunni leaders said if no major concessions are made, they will mobilize the community to vote "No" in an October referendum on the charter, raising the possibility of a fierce political battle while the insurgency rages.

Under Iraq's interim constitution, if two thirds of voters in three of Iraq's 18 provinces vote "No," the charter is rejected and parliament dissolved before December elections.

Arab Sunnis form a majority in three provinces.

Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, urged all Iraqis to register to vote in the referendum, a message sure to inspire the majority 60 percent Shi'ites.

In one example of Iraq's complex violence, hospital officials said 20 members of two rival tribes were killed near the western town of Qaim. Both tribes are Sunni but one supports the militant group al Qaeda in Iraq, clerics in the town said.

Source: REUTERS

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