The head of Iraq's parliament has announced that the Shia and Kurdish factions have reached agreement on Sunni Arab proposals and will forward an amended text to the National Assembly on Sunday.

But the Sunnis denounced the text and called on people to reject it in the referendum.

The announcement by Parliament Speaker Hajim al-Hassani on Saturday and the statements by the Sunnis signaled an end to the intense negotiations and their failure to produce a draft accepted by all factions.

That sets the stage for an intense battle over the next two months by forces supporting and opposing the draft in the run-up to the 15 October referendum.

The announcement could also lead to an intensification of violence in the war-torn land at a time when American public support for the Iraq war is dropping.

"A parliamentary agreement has been reached between the Kurdish coalition and the [Shia] alliance on accepting the suggestions of the forces that did not take part in the elections (Sunnis) and it will be announced in parliament tomorrow," al-Hassani said.

Federalism unresolved

Al-Hassani added that there were many attempts at reaching a draft acceptable to all parties.

He added that "the question of federalism will be postponed to be reviewed by the next national assembly, but no other items will be carried forward".

"We cannot raise any views on the draft constitution now until we meet at the assembly on Sunday," he said.

1000 Iraqis Released from Abu Ghraib

The US military has released nearly 1000 prisoners from Abu Ghraib prison after Iraqi authorities requested that they be set free, a military statement says.

The move, the largest prisoner release to date, followed appeals by Sunni representatives at the stalled constitutional talks to the government to start releasing thousands of prisoners who have been languishing in the jail for months without being charged with a crime.

After a meeting with President Jalal Talabani on Thursday, Sunni negotiator Saleh al-Mutlaq said the president agreed to release many detainees before the 15 October referendum on the constitution.

Al-Mutlaq said hundreds of detainees, most of them Sunni Arabs, were to be set free.

"This major release ... marks a significant event in Iraq's progress toward democratic governance and the rule of law," the US statement said.

"Those chosen for release are not guilty of serious, violent crimes - such as bombing, torture, kidnapping, or murder - and all have admitted their crimes, renounced violence, and pledged to be good citizens of a democratic Iraq."

Abu Ghraib prison, built by Saddam Hussein's government in the 1970s on the outskirts of Baghdad, was retained as a major detention centre by the US occupation authorities after the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

It gained international notoriety after a number of US military personnel were charged with humiliating and assaulting detainees at the facility.

PHOTO CAPTION

Association of Muslim Scholars spokesman Abdel Salam al-Kubaisi answers questions in Baghdad. (AFP)