Prisoners from Abu Ghraib dropped off north of Baghdad
By ROBERT MORAN
Knight Ridder Newspapers
TIKRIT, Iraq - Scores of prisoners released from the controversial Abu Ghraib prison Tuesday were forced to take a winding, nearly five-hour journey through central Iraq on three hot, rickety buses escorted by U.S. military Humvees before being deposited without explanation in the middle of a gravel quarry near Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit.
It was unclear why the detainees, at least a hundred of them, were dropped off at the remote location 120 miles north of Baghdad. Some got rides home from relatives who had frantically followed the buses in their vehicles. Others climbed into the back of a dump truck or returned to their buses and got a ride back to Baghdad. A few were still milling about on the dirt road where they were released when a reporter and photographer left the scene.
The bizarre ordeal for the detainees came as the U.S. military continues to reel from the prisoner-abuse scandal that erupted last week. Photographs showed Iraqis at Abu Ghraib being subjected to various humiliations, including being stripped naked and forced to simulate sex acts.
U.S. military officials didn't respond to several requests for comment about the way detainees were released Tuesday. Soldiers who escorted the convoy said briefly that there was some kind of mix-up, then they quickly drove away.
One of the Iraqi bus drivers said angrily as he was driving away: "They are playing with their nerves. They are trying to destroy them. This is not the first time."
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Suddenly the convoy appeared again on the main highway. The detainees waved from their windows as they rode by. The awaiting Iraqis scrambled into their vehicles to resume the mysterious pursuit.
The convoy eventually reached the outskirts of Tikrit and wound its way down some residential streets before crossing a bridge and driving onto a dirt road.
About a mile down the road the convoy stopped and, after a few moments of confusion, the prisoners were released around 2:30 p.m.
One detainee, who declined to give his name, asked, "Is this democracy?"