BAGHDAD, Jan 7: The United States said on Wednesday it would launch a carrot-and-stick drive to secure lasting peace in Iraq by cracking down harder on guerrillas while freeing hundreds of prisoners deemed low-security threats.

"It is time for reconciliation, time for Iraqis to make common cause," Iraq's US governor Paul Bremer told a news conference. About 500 Iraqis held as low-level security threats in the last eight months are due to be released. Some 9,000 prisoners are being held by US-led forces and many more have been detained and released since Saddam Hussein was ousted in April.

"In a gesture to give impetus to those Iraqis who wish to reconcile with their countrymen, the (US-led) coalition will permit some currently detained offenders to return to their homes and families," said Bremer.

He said those suspected of serious violent crimes would not be freed. "This is not a programme for those with blood-stained hands. No person directly involved in the death or serious bodily harm to any human being will be released."

Adnan Pachachi, president of the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council, said 100 prisoners would be freed on Thursday and thousands more soon. "I think there has been great joy in Iraq for many families who have lost contact with their dear ones for several months," he told CNN television.

"There is a promise that several thousand detainees may be released in the next few months." Bremer said the prisoner releases would be accompanied by a stepped-up crackdown on remaining die-hard insurgents. -Reuters