Iran releases Iraqi war prisoners

The Iranian official news agency quoted the governor of Qaser Sherine area as saying yesterday that Iran on Monday handed over Iraq 390 war prisoners following 15 years of the end of hostilities between the two countries.

The governor Hussein Khoush said that the prisoners who were released according to the agreement which was finalized last Wednesday returned back to Iraq through Khousrawi border point which is near of Qaser Sherine.

Baghdad and Tehran have agreed to release all Iraqi war prisoners held in Iran and all the Iranians held in Iraq for committing legal crimes including illegal entry.

According to Baghdad, the agreement covers 941 Iraqi war prisoners held by Iran and 349 Iranians held in Iraq including Shiite pilgrims, students, farmers, villagers and border guards. Tehran says that there are no war prisoners among those.

The spokesman for the Iranian foreign ministry Hameed Rida Asefi said that "by exchanging the prisoners there are no Iraqi prisoners remaining in Iran."

The two countries which have yet to sign a peace treaty that ends the war which lasted for 8 years 1980- 1988 and resulted in killing more than one million persons from the two sides.