BAGHDAD, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- U.S. authorities announced Monday they had released eight former lieutenants of Saddam Hussein.
The group included two women who had been accused of making biological weapons: Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash, who had been dubbed by some U.S. officials "Mrs. Anthrax" and Rihab Taha, also known as "Dr. Germ." U.S. authorities said they no longer posed any national security threat.
There has been speculation in Baghdad that the group was freed as part of the pay-off for a pre-election deal between U.S. authorities and Sunni Muslim groups to ensure that last Thursday's parliamentary elections passed off peacefully without Sunni insurgent attacks.
Some of the freed individuals had been held as suspects in possible war crimes and as material witnesses in the prosecution of Saddam and some of his top officials.
A U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad said eight detainees "were released as part of an ongoing process for many months in full consultation with the Iraqi government."
"Many were originally held as suspects in possible war crimes and as material witnesses," the spokesman said.
They were released over the weekend after nearly three years in detention and were then flown to Jordan, allegedly because of fears for their safety in Iraq, the BBC reported.
