World

Iraqi Freedom  For Prisoners

January 7, 2004 / 5:32 PM EST / CBS/AP

U.S. authorities in Iraq will release 506 low-level Iraqi prisoners while increasing the bounties for fugitives suspected of major roles in attacks against coalition forces, the top American civilian official in Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, said Wednesday.

The prisoners to be released have not been involved in attacks on American forces, aren't suspected of torture or other atrocities under the regime of Saddam Hussein and must have a community or tribal leader act as a sponsor before they can return home, Bremer said.

"I want to assure you that this is not a program for those with bloodstained hands," he said. "Nor will we release people accused of torture or crimes against humanity."

Coalition officials said the releases — out of some 12,800 prisoners — are also aimed at encouraging Iraqis to provide intelligence tips to the U.S. authorities.

Meanwhile, witnesses are reporting a deadly attack by U.S. troops. They say the Americans fired a shell at a house after coming under fire in the tense Iraqi city of Fallujah, killing an Iraqi couple. The U.S. military did not comment.

Elsewhere in Iraq, insurgents hit an Iraqi police vehicle with a rocket-propelled grenade in the northern city of Kirkuk. Iraqi police say one officer was killed and two were wounded.

Also in Kirkuk, a rocket-propelled grenade exploded into the headquarters of the Kurdistan Socialist Party, injuring one person but doing little damage.

In other developments:

Iraq hid from United Nations inspectors some preliminary plans to develop banned weapons, but a U.S. survey team has found no evidence of weapons stockpiles or active weapons-building programs, a newspaper reports.

Pentagon official defended moves to keep troops in Iraq, including an order barring retirements and a $10,000 reenlistment bonus, reports CBS News Correspondent Barry Bagnato. "We are a nation at war," said Joint Chiefs chairman Gen. Richard Myers.

Families of 101st Airborne Division soldiers waved American flags and yelled "thank you" as the division's first planeload of troops from Iraq stepped off the plane Wednesday after nearly a year at war. Fifty-nine soldiers from Fort Campbell, the 101st's home, have been killed in the war — more deaths in Iraq than any other military unit.

The U.S.-led occupation authority plans to take part in meetings between Iraqi leaders and the United Nations. The authority must decide how strong a mandate to give the U.N. in the country's move to self-rule: a lead political role in the election process, or strictly humanitarian aid and refugee issues.

Bush administration officials say politics had nothing to do with a decision to award a second contract worth $1.8 billion to rebuild Iraq to Bechtel. Bechtel executives gave thousands of dollars to President Bush's 2000 election campaign and two of the company's top executives serve on advisory boards to the White House and the Defense Department.

Most of the prisoners who will be released are suspected low-level "associates" of insurgents who have not been directly involved in attacks, coalition officials said on condition of anonymity.

The release of Iraqis held indefinitely and without charge has been a top demand of community and tribal leaders, as well as human rights advocates.

"All they do is put a bag on their heads, bind their hands behind them with plastic handcuffs and take them away. Families don't know where they go," Malek Dohan al-Hassan, head of the Lawyers Syndicate in Baghdad, said last month. "They violate human rights up to their ears."

Bremer said U.S. authorities are working on ways to grant people access to family members who are being held prisoner.

Iraq's Governing Council took credit for the releases.

"We demanded the coalition authority look into the issue of those detained and arrested," said Adnan Pachachi, the chairman of the U.S.-appointed council.

One military official described the typical prisoner to be freed as a person swept up in a raid that also captured "more dangerous" people or weapons.

Before they are freed, the prisoners must sign a statement renouncing violence and have a community or tribal leader act as a "guarantor" for their conduct, Bremer said.

"They made a mistake and they know it. But we are prepared to offer some of them a new chance," Bremer said. "It is time for reconciliation, time for Iraqis to make common cause in building the new Iraq."

The first release will be Thursday, when about 100 prisoners will be freed from Abu Ghraib, a notorious prison under Saddam's regime. Further releases will take place in coming weeks from camps across Iraq, officials said.

The 506 prisoners to be freed represent about 4 percent of the 12,800 prisoners in U.S. custody — which includes almost 4,000 members of an anti-Iran rebel group.

It's not known how many detainees have been held in U.S. custody. The military announces dozens of arrests daily, but many are released within hours or days.

At the same time, the officials said the U.S. military will intensify its hunt for hard-line guerrillas, offering bounties for information leading to the capture or killing of 30 Iraqis accused in the insurgency.

The reward announcement broadens the practice of offering bounties for fugitives. Of the original 55 most wanted Iraqis whose pictures appeared on a deck of cards, 13 remain at large. Twelve of those have rewards of $1 million for their capture — or for confirmation that they are dead, Bremer said.

The U.S. military has also put a $10 million bounty for Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, vice chairman of Saddam's revolutionary council. He became the most-wanted fugitive after Saddam's Dec. 13 capture.

Fifteen of the fugitives command bounties of $200,000 each; rewards for the remaining 15 are $50,000 apiece.