78 detainees released from U.S. jail

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: U.S. forces on Sunday freed 78 detainees from Cropper prison near Baghdad International Airport, according to a media advisor. “Those released included three juveniles of no more than 18 years old,” the advisor told IraqiNews.com news agency. The total number of detainees held by U.S. troops at Basra’s Bucca prison, Baghdad’s Cropper prison and the new Taji Rehabilitation Center is 11,860, the advisor noted. The official revealed U.S. intentions to close down Bucca prison in August 2008. In accordance with the security agreement signed between the United States and the Iraqi government, U.S. troops hand over the files of 1,500 detainees every month to Iraqi authorities. SS (P) 1