Iraqi ministry blames police for prison breaks

Staff at the reform department of Iraq's Ministry of Justice have cited fears of being being made a scapegoat for last week's prison breaks in north and west of Baghdad. Dozens of gunmen stormed Taji and Abu Ghraib prisons last Sunday, with reports of up to 1000 inmates, most of them al-Qaida-linked prisoners, having escaped from the detention centres. Ministry of Justice spokesman Wissam al-Fraiji has revealed that employees are planning a strike after the federal police pointed the finger at them for the security breaches. Officials at the reform department said that protection of the main exits at Taji and Abu Ghraib prisons is the responsibility of the interior ministry. They added that their duties are limited to providing administrative services inside the ?prison, emphasising the fact that they are not allowed to carry weapons. Despite this, they used sticks to apprehend the prisoners and lost eight of their colleagues during the violence. Justice Minister Hasan al-Shammari has urged department workers to delay the strike until the situation could be resolved. Since last week's attacks, Iraq's justice and interior ministries have blamed each other for failing to maintain security at the two prisons.