US military to release 472 prisoners from Abu Ghraib

The US military will release 472 prisoners on May 21 from the Abu Ghraib jail, center of a scandal involving abuse of detainees by American soldiers, a military spokesman said Tuesday. The military periodically frees prisoners from Abu Ghraib, which was also notorious as the site of executions and torture during Saddam Hussein's regime.

The US military will release 472 prisoners on May 21 from the Abu Ghraib jail, center of a scandal involving abuse of detainees by American soldiers, a military spokesman said Tuesday.

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The military periodically frees prisoners from Abu Ghraib, which was also notorious as the site of executions and torture during Saddam Hussein's regime.

On Friday, the US military released 293 detainees from Abu Ghraib, and had announced that 475 prisoners would be released on May 21.

Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, who announced the planned release, did not explain why three fewer prisoners would be freed. "There will be a prisoner release in Abu Ghraib on the 21st of May and 472 prisoners will be released," he said. Four US soldiers accused of abusing Iraqi prisoners will appear in a military court in Baghdad on Wednesday.

The military is still sending detainees who are considered security risks to Abu Ghraib.