A high ranking security official at the Ministry of Interior has said that some 30 Iraqis imprisoned for drugs smuggling have been handed back to authorities in Iraq. The official said that the measures had come with the Kingdom's recent finalizing of procedures for the signing of a prisoner-repatriation agreement with the Iraqi government following approval from the Shoura Council and the Cabinet's authorizing of the ministry to sign the document. The agreement now awaits the signature of the government in Iraq, the official said. According to the official, the agreement will see prisoners complete jail terms in their home countries allowing them to be closer to their families and will serve to reduce the pressure on prisons. In 2007, Riyadh returned 16 Iraqis to the neighboring state, and in September of 2008 the Kingdom took back eight Saudi detainees held in Iraq, but no exchange of prison inmates has occurred since that date as authorities waited for the exchange agreement to be signed.
