Free Republic

Armed militants have attacked a prison in the Iraqi city of Tikrit, killing at least 12 guards and freeing about 90 inmates, officials have told the BBC. They say a suicide bomber detonated a car bomb at the gates of Tasfirat prison and clashes between militants and security guards followed. Some of the escaped inmates were reportedly al-Qaeda members. The prison was later retaken from the gunmen by security forces, reports say. A curfew is now in place in the area.

Baghdad - US CentCom braced for an international human rights backlash today, as it released another raft of photos detailing widespread inmate abuse and humiliation at the hands of US guards at the notorious Al Ghraib prison. In the newly released photos, masked Iraqi prisoners are shown forming human pyramids, stuffing Volkswagens, eating live goldfish and pounding 'beer bongs,' all under the supervision of laughing US guards. "The occupiers forced us go on a 'snipe hunt'," said a tearful Khalid al-Husseini, a former shredder operator under Saddam who was recently released from Al Ghraib after a three week incarceration. "Yet,...