US forces freed Friday morning hundreds of Iraqi prisoners from the notorious Abu Ghraib jail, which has been the platform of prison abuse scandals.

Several buses filled with detainees, escorted by US military vehicles, pulled out of the prison, toward the high way, heading to the capital.

Since the dawn, hundreds of Iraqis were at the main gate of Abu Ghraib prison west of Baghdad waiting for their thousands of detainees inside the compound.

US officials had previously said that about 300 prisoners would be released on Friday, part of a months-old programme that the new commander of the jail said this week would cut the number of detainees to between 1,500 and 2,000 by the end of next month.

About 3,800 detainees were in Abu Ghraib earlier this week.

Criticism and outrage have been growing in the world and Arab countries over the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US-led coalition military guards.