31.   The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service confirmed Thursday that it had begun releasing immigrant inmates who had been detained in the prisons of five southern states.

32.   Though the commission has no authority to judge cases or to release inmates, many detainees have pleaded their innocence before it.

33.   Belgian law allows for inmates to be released for good conduct after serving half their sentence.

34.   But this could not involve releasing convicted inmates, the source added.

35.   Eighty prison inmates were released temporarily to help workers cope with trying to battle against the rising waters.

36.   The official media has recently highlighted several cases of prison staff accepting bribes to release inmates who have yet to serve their full sentence.

37.   One inmate was released Friday morning and had resumed eating, but the other remained in the infirmary, he said.

38.   The inmates were released in small batches from prisons around Israel and were taken to Palestinian-controlled areas in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.