IRAQ SENDS 8 SAUDIS HOME

eight Saudi Arabian nationals jailed in Iraq were sent home ahead of a new extradition treaty between the two countries. The official SPA news agency quoted the spokesman for the Saudi Interior Ministry as saying that under the accord, the Saudi authorities were preparing to send back 16 Iraqis jailed in the kingdom. Iraqi national security adviser Muwaffak al-Rubaie said Iraq was holding fewer than 100 Saudis, who had all been tried and convicted, while US-led forces were holding fewer than 50.