] BAGHDAD (AFP) - More than 100 children held in a prison
] celebrated their freedom as US marines rolled into
] northeast Baghdad amid chaotic scenes which saw civilians
] loot weapons from an army compound, a US officer said.
]
] Around 150 children spilled out of the jail after the
] gates were opened as a US military Humvee vehicle
] approached, Lieutenant Colonel Fred Padilla told an AFP
] correspondent travelling with the Marines 5th Regiment.
]
] "Hundreds of kids were swarming us and kissing us,"
] Padilla said.
]
] "There were parents running up, so happy to have their
] kids back."
]
] "The children had been imprisoned because they had not
] joined the youth branch of the Baath party," he alleged.
] "Some of these kids had been in there for five years."

Interesting to see stories such as this coming from the French press.