Separately, last month -- or in December, Ambassador Bremer and then-president -- so I guess it was early January -- the then- president of the Iraqi Governing Council, Dr. Pachachi, announced a security reconciliation initiative that involves the release of detainees from Abu Ghraib prison. And I’ve told you that from time to time from this podium, I’ll provide updates on the actual release program. As of today, I can report that the overall number of guarantors, the sponsors that are required for the release of each prisoner, the total number of guarantors identified is 157, and the total number of detainees matched with a guarantor is 192. The reason for the delta between the two numbers is because some guarantors have been able to sponsor more than one detainee.
An item I missed when I posted this briefing yesterday. |