Up to 1 000 escape Abu Ghraib

Up to 1 000 prisoners escaped from the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad when gunmen stormed it, a lawmaker said.

"Between 500 and 1,000 prisoners escaped, mostly members of the al-Qaeda network, from the Abu Ghraib prison," Hakem al-Zamli, a member of parliament's security and defence committee, said on Sunday's incident.

"It cannot be tolerated," he said. "... Those proven negligent in the prison's administration must be held accountable."