Prisoners released from Iraq torture jail

NEARLY 300 Iraqi detainees, some weeping, were released from the Abu Ghraib prison yesterday, a day after Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld made a surprise visit, insisting the Pentagon did not try to cover up abuses there.

One bus carrying 40 prisoners left the jail and drove to a US military base in west Baghdad, where tribal leaders awaited. The prisoners got out, kneeled, and prayed beside the bus.

Hundreds of relatives waited outside the prison since morning. US marines blocked off a highway as the first of at least six buses left.