In pictures: Iraqi prisoners' release

Nearly 600 Iraqi prisoners have been released as part of efforts to promote national reconciliation in the country.

More than 100 detainees were freed in Baghdad - many clutching the Koran and praying on the ground.

Those set free would be people with no clear evidence against them or held by mistake, PM Nouri Maliki said earlier.

They are the first of 2,500 ordered to be released from Iraqi and US-run jails, including Abu-Ghraib, by Mr Maliki.

An anxious crowd gathered in Baghdad, hoping that their family members or relatives would be among those set free.

But some were left devastated after waiting in vain for their loved ones.

The former inmates were each given a gift of $200. Some 29,000 people are said to be held in Iraq's jails.

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