US forces freed Friday morning hundreds of Iraqi prisoners from the notorious Abu Ghraib jail, which has been the platform of prison abuse scandals.

Several buses filled with detainees pulled out of the compound before setting off in convoy on the highway to the capital escorted by US military vehicles, said the witnesses.

The convoy drove to an American military base in west Baghdad, where tribal leaders awaited the prisoners, who kneeled and prayed beside the bus.

Since the dawn, hundreds of Iraqis were at the main gate of Abu Ghraib prison west of Baghdad waiting for their thousands of detainees inside the compound.

Earlier, US officials revealed that some 315 prisoners would be released on Friday, part of a months-old program.

US Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld paid a surprising visit to the Abu Ghraib prison camp and insisted the Pentagon did not try to cover up abuses there.

Images of abuse have appeared in photos of Iraqi prisoners that were taken by American military guards at the prison.

About 3,800 detainees were in Abu Ghraib earlier this week. The number of inmates will cut to between 1,500 and 2,000 by the end of next month, the new commander of the jail said. 

Criticism and outrage have been growing in the world and Arab countries over the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US-led coalition military guards.

(Xinhua News Agency May 15, 2004)