US troops faced fresh accusations of unlawful killings of civilians in Iraq as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered the release of 2,500 detainees in a gesture to promote national reconciliation.

The Iraqi Islamic Party, the main Sunni Arab political party, accused American forces of murdering more than two dozen Iraqis in a series of incidents across the country in May.

"The US forces have violated human rights many times across Iraq," said Omar al-Juburi, spokesman for the human rights section of the party led by Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi.

In the latest in a string of allegations against US forces, Juburi said 29 Iraqis were killed in May in separate incidents in the towns of Latifiyah and Yusifiyah, south of Baghdad, and in the capital itself.

"On May 13, US forces launched an air assault on a civilian car in Latifiyah and killed six people," Juburi told reporters.

"On the same day US aircraft attacked the house of a civilian, Saadun Mohsen Hassan, and killed seven members of his family," he added.

Juburi said US forces carried out another air strike the next day on the house of Sheikh Yassin Saleh Shallal in Yusifiyah, "killing 13 people -- including women and children."

Three other Iraqis were killed in US raids in Baghdad, he said.

The nearby towns of Latifiyah and Yusifiyah have been the scene of increased insurgent activity and several US operations.

The new accusations come after a string of charges of atrocities by American forces in Iraq, including the alleged killings of 24 civilians by marines in Haditha in November and another 11 civilians by soldiers last March in Ishaqi.

A US military inquiry has exonerated the soldiers involved in the Ishaqi killing, while the investigation into Haditha is ongoing.

Maliki reiterated his commitment Tuesday to get to the bottom of the Haditha case.

"We have set up a committee to look into this painful incident," he said. "We have already denounced the action as it is against human rights and was targeting innocent Iraqis -- we are following the case."

Meanwhile, in a bid to calm surging Shiite-Sunni sectarian strife, Maliki also ordered the release of 2,500 detainees who had not carried out acts of violence.

"We have ordered release of 2,500 detainees in groups, and the first group of 500 detainees will be freed tomorrow" (Wednesday), he told reporters, adding: "the step is the first one of its kind to promote national reconciliation."

As of April 30, 2006, a total of 28,700 people were being held in Iraqi and US prisons across the country.

Maliki also suggested a South African-style truth and reconciliation committee to reintegrate former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party into society as part of a broad new strategy to reestablish security.

Thousands of Baathists lost their jobs in the wake of the 2003 US invasion after a de-Baathification committee was set up, provoking resentment from Sunni Arabs in particular who felt they were being unfairly targeted.

In rebel violence on Tuesday at least 15 people were killed across Iraq.

Five were killed and 15 wounded when a car bomb exploded next to a wake being held in the Amal neighborhood of southwest Baghdad. The mourners were Shiites.

In the restive town of Baquba, police found nine heads wrapped in black plastic bags in a cardboard box on the highway outside the city.

Some of the heads had been blindfolded and were already decomposing, indicating the killings had taken place a few days ago, police said.

Ten others were killed in other incidents.

Insurgent violence has surged in past weeks, with dozens killed each day as the key security portfolios within the government remain unfilled because of political wrangling.

Maliki said the interior and defense ministers would be named in the next parliamentary session which is set for 11 am (0700 GMT) Thursday.

Iraq's interior ministry, meanwhile, ordered a probe into Monday's dramatic kidnapping of 50 people from a central Baghdad street in broad daylight.

The abductions, which involved about a dozen vehicles, including some painted in the distinctive camouflage of the ministry's commandos, took place on Salhiya Street where several travel agencies are located.

General Abdel Aziz Mohammed of the defense ministry said the government will launch a plan next week to improve security in Baghdad and surrounding areas, which will focus on disarming civilians.

Copyright © 2006 AFP

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