Some 241 Iraqis in U.S. and British custody released

Dec 10, 2005, 14:36 GMT

Baghdad - U.S. and British forces released 241 Iraqi detainees from the country's two main prisons, said the Iraqi Justice Ministry Saturday.

The ministry said the prisoners were released from the U.S.- controlled Abu Ghraib prison close to Baghdad and the British- controlled Boka facility in Basra and 'had been found not guilty' of the charges facing them.

The decision to release the prisoners was taken in tandem with Iraqi authorities, a spokesman said.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military said Saturday that a U.S. soldier was killed in the Abu Ghraib district by a suicide car bomber. The military said the terrorist attack Friday also wounded 11 soldiers and one Iraqi civilian, but gave no further details.

In another statement, the U.S. military said a total of 52 detainees had been rounded up in the Tikrit region in a two-day period up to Saturday morning.

Among those held were three suspects wanted in connection with bomb attacks against civilians and the military.

According to eyewitnesses, one U.S. soldier was injured when a roadside bomb exploded while his patrol was passing by Saturday in Baghdad.

The witnesses said one U.S. vehicle was also destroyed in the blast, that took place at an intersection in the northeast of the city.