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USA TodayKIRKUK, Iraq — Mohammed Hussain Ghafur dabbed his watery eyes moments after his two young sons jumped into his waiting arms. In the 20 months he languished in jail without charges, this had been his dream.
His crime? Ghafur, 37, says he sold a car that was later used in a terrorist bombing. "They traced the address to me, and that was it," he said. He says he cooperated with police after he was arrested by U.S.-led coalition forces, but despite his pleas, "they never allowed me to defend myself or see a lawyer."
Ghafur was among 122 detainees released from an Iraqi-run prison in Sulaimaniyah and given their freedom at a ceremony here Monday as part of the largest wave of prisoner releases since the war began. The Iraqi government set them free to reintegrate men into society who were accused of relatively minor crimes, and ease the strains on a prison system operating well beyond its capacity.
...
Emad Ibrahim was a first-year college student and about to get married when U.S. troops arrested him in Hawijah a year and a half ago. He says Kurdish security forces "beat me up to admit" he was an insurgent, but he says he was innocent. Now, he hopes to study computers and resume his life.
His father, Ibrahim Al Mahmoud, 52, said he also has plans. "I am going to get my son married and keep him at home," he said with a wide grin. "I will not let him out of the house."
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http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-04-22-detainees-iraq_N.htm
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