IRAQ’S government has formally taken over Abu Ghraib, site of an abuse scandal by U.S. soldiers, and all inmates have been transferred to another facility, officials said Saturday.

Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the facility, which has become synonymous with abuse, had been emptied of any detainees.

Lt. Col. Keir Kevin Curry, U.S. spokesman for detainee operations, also confirmed that coalition forces had transferred operations of Abu Ghraib to the Iraqi Justice Ministry on Friday.

Al-Dabbagh said the Iraqi Government has not decided yet what to do with Abu Ghraib, but it will be used “in a way that can serve the national interest.”

Abu Ghraib came to symbolize American mishandling of some prisoners captured in Iraq, both during the U.S.-led invasion three years ago and in the fight to subdue the largely Sunni Arab insurgency since then.

Widely publicized photographs of prisoner abuse by American military guards at the facility prompted intense global criticism of the U.S. war in Iraq and fueled the insurgency. (SD-Agencies)