The US has said it will free hundreds of prisoners in Iraq and quadruple funds for political transition as it prepares Iraq for self-rule in June.But one of Iraq's most respected religious leader criticised the plans for the handover of power.
A statement from the office of Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the most senior cleric in the majority Shia community, said a transitional government in June and elections next year do not "ensure in any way the fair representation of the Iraqi people".
Ayatollah Sistani said he wanted elections to be held before June but had been told that was not feasible. He said there had to be "another solution that is honest to the Iraqi people's demands".
Washington opened bidding for $5 billion in 17 new contracts to rebuild Iraq, the first in a string of deals funded by $18.6 billion appropriated by Congress.
The US said on Tuesday it would more than quadruple to $458 million its spending to build a new government in Iraq, develop political parties and prepare elections.
US officials said they would release more than 500 Iraqis held as low-level security threats in the last eight months.
An estimated 9,000 security detainees are currently being held by US forces in Iraq and many more have been briefly detained and released. The US Administrator in Iraq, Mr Paul Bremer, said those suspected of serious violent crimes would not be freed.
- (Reuters)