Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Five Iraqis escape US military prison

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Five suspected insurgents have escaped from a U.S. military prison in Kurdish northern Iraq, a U.S. military spokesman said on Wednesday.

There was no sign of the men, who security sources said were Iraqis, more than 24 hours after Tuesday's overnight breakout.

"They escaped in the early morning hours May 9," spokesman Keir-Kevin Curry said. "The incident is under investigation."

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On the latest figures, the U.S. military is holding more than 14,000 people in Iraq, many of them from the Sunni minority that is the center of the insurgency against the new government.

Fort Suse, built by Soviet engineers as a military base in 1977, lies near the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniya. It holds about 1,300 inmates. U.S. personnel have been training Iraqis there to take over guard duties.

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