Middle East News
Basra governor: British forces to release 15 Mahdi Army militants
Nov 8, 2007, 14:21 GMT
Baghdad - British forces agreed to release 15 Mahdi Army militants held at a British detention centre in Shaiba base in west Basra, the city governor Mohammed Mosbah al-Waeli said Thursday.
Al-Waeli said the Iraqi government and British forces had agreed to set free a total of 85 people, detained between 2006 and 2007.
The governor said that so far 60 prisoners have been released in 2007.
The rest, he added, would be freed this year.
The Mahdi Army is a militia loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada al- Sadr.
The Iraqi government is expected to take over security in Basra from British forces in mid-December.
Basra is 590 kilometres south of Baghdad.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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