US forces free two former Iraqi ministers

AMMAN: Two Iraqi former ministers in Saddam Hussein's last government were waiting to fly from Baghdad to Amman on Monday after serving nearly three years in a US-run prison, their relatives in the Jordanian capital said.   

They said Humam Abdul-Khaleq Abdul-Ghafur, former minister of higher education and scientific research, and Ahmed Murtada Ahmed Khalil, former communications and transport minister, were released on Sunday from a US military base at Baghdad airport.   

US troops captured or killed many top members of Saddam's government and his now-banned Baath party after toppling the former president in April, 2003. Some detainees have been freed. There was no immediate word on why the military had released the two ex-ministers along with six other Baathists who were also expected to board a flight to Amman.

The group includes prominent businessman Sattam Kaoud, and an aide to Saddam's slain eldest son Uday, Aseel Sabra, relatives said. Some Iraqi political sources close to the Sunni Arab-led insurgency interpreted the move as an American gesture towards the minority Sunni Arab community once dominant under Saddam.   

Washington, keen to draw Sunni Arabs away from rebellion and into the political process, took heart from an apparently high Sunni Arab turnout in last week's parliamentary election. The US military is holding thousands of Iraqi prisoners, many of whom have not been charged. However, Saddam and seven of his top aides are on trial for crimes against humanity.