Prisoner release 'largest since war began'

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki released nearly 600 detainees today, making good on a pledge intended to ease feuding between Sunni Arabs and Shiites.

The detainees were the first of 2,000 prisoners who al-Maliki promised would be freed from Iraq’s most notorious prisons over a 30-day period in an apparent effort to ease anger among minority Sunnis.