Former militia commander from Saddam’s regime released from Iraq prison after 6 years

Iraq releases former top Saddam loyalist

BAGHDAD — The Iraqi government has released from prison a top Saddam Hussein loyalist after he was cleared of charges of helping the former regime punish opponents by draining the country’s fabled marshlands.

Khamis Sirhan al-Muhammad was No. 54 of 55 on a former U.S. military list of most-wanted Saddam officials. He was a Baath Party regional chairman and militia commander from Anbar Province.

A spokesman for the Iraqi High Tribunal, Judge Mohammed Abdul-Sahib Yaseen, said Wednesday that al-Muhammad was recently released from a prison just outside Baghdad. He gave no details.

Al-Muhammad was captured in January 2004.

Saddam, a Sunni Muslim, drained 90 percent of Iraq’s southern marshes to punish Shiites who lived there and rose up against his regime.