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Iraq reopens infamous Abu Ghraib prison

Iraq - Abu Ghraib reopened
Iraq - Abu Ghraib reopened

Iraqi officials formally reopened Abu Ghraib prison, which became synonymous with abuse under the US occupation, and in addition to a fresh coat of paint, gave it a new name.

The prison on the western outskirts of Baghdad earned global notoriety after US jailkeepers filmed themselves tormenting and sexually humiliating Iraqi prisoners less than a year after the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

The pictures sparked global anger and helped fuel a raging anti-US insurgency in Iraq that killed tens of thousands of Iraqis and has only started to fade in the past year.

Renamed Baghdad Central Prison, it already has around 400 inmates.

Then-US President George W Bush called the abuse at Abu Ghraib a low point of his presidency.

Abu Ghraib is in an area that saw heavy fighting during the early years of Iraq's insurgency, and the US military closed it in 2006 after constructing a giant, purpose-built prison camp in the desert on the Kuwaiti border.