Sa'ad Esmail (c) is met by his family after being released from US military custody in southern Baghdad, 26 Feb 2009The U.S. military says the number of detainees held by coalition forces in Iraq has dropped to less than 14,000 from a peak of 26,000 in 2007.

The military said in a statement released Tuesday that that the prisoners are being freed or transferred to Iraqi custody to meet the requirements of a security agreement that took effect on January 1.

The military also said that beginning last month coalition forces have released an average of 50 detainees a day.

American forces in Iraq can no longer hold suspects without charge as they have done since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. The agreement requires American troops to hand over detainees wanted by the Iraqis and release the rest.

Some information for this report was provided by AP.