The government called the amnesty, which includes political prisoners, a way of thanking the nation for re-electing President Saddam Hussein last week in a referendum.

Iraqi television showed men leaving a prison carrying their belongings in plastic shopping bags and chanting: "We sacrifice our blood and souls for Saddam."

In the United States, Secretary of State Colin Powell, interviewed Sunday on ABC's "This Week," said the amnesty was a political ploy by Saddam.

"This is typical of this man's use of human beings for these political purposes of his," Powell said. "This is the kind of manipulation he uses to try to paint himself as something other than what he is, a brutal dictator."

A statement attributed to Saddam, read on national television by Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhafa, said the "full and complete and final amnesty" applied to "anyone imprisoned or arrested for political or any other reason."

Amnesty International accuses Iraq of holding tens of thousands of political prisoners and of torturing and executing its political opponents. There was no figure available as to how many inmates the amnesty would involve.

Later, Interior Minister Mahmoud Diab al-Ahmed was seen supervising the release. Some prisoners were heard pledging not to commit any crimes in the future and others said they were "ready to defend Iraq and the great leader."

Those convicted of murder, the statement said, would only be released if the victims' families agreed and those convicted of theft would have to work out a way to repay their victims before being released. Soldiers accused of desertion and those awaiting execution of their death sentences were included.

"We are shifting the responsibility of reforming them to their families and society after we have provided them with this opportunity," the statement said. "We ask God that we will not regret this decision."

State-run television said later that other Arabs imprisoned or detained in Iraq - except those held on charges of spying for Israel or the United States - were included in the amnesty.

Iraq did not mention Kuwaiti prisoners of the 1991 Gulf War. Kuwait accuses Iraq of failing to account for more than 600 Kuwaitis and nationals of other countries who disappeared during the Gulf crisis. Baghdad insists it has released all war prisoners and in recent years.

The amnesty was intended to thank the Iraqi people for their support of Saddam, who claimed a 100-percent 'yes' vote in a presidential referendum last week, the statement said.

"It's a unanimity that others are incapable of believing and it is the greatest truth of this age from this great, honest, warm people," the statement said. "The referendum honored us before the whole world."

As al-Sahhafa completed his statement, Iraqi television switched to file footage of Iraqis celebrating Saddam's elections victory, chanting his name and pledges of support.

Iraqi exiles and the United States scoffed at Saddam's referendum and the reported results. Saddam was the only candidate and Iraqis were asked to vote "yes" or "no" on whether he should serve another seven-year term. In a country where dissidents face torture or death, according to exiles and international human rights groups, assessing voters' sincerity is difficult.

President Bush has called for Saddam to be toppled, accusing him of stockpiling weapons of mass destruction and harboring terrorists, and has expressed concerns about its human rights record."

The Iraqi regime had "probably the worst human rights situation anywhere in the world ... uses the death penalty, rape and torture as a political tool," said the British government report on human rights abuses around the world released on Thursday.

(China Daily October 21, 2002)