Myanmar govt to release more than 3,000 prisoners

The government of Myanmar is set to release more than 3,000 prisoners to maintain peace and stability in the country.

According to the BBC, early indications are that some of those to be released are former military intelligence officers.

Myanmar has already released most of the political prisoners as part of the reform process.

The Ministry of Information announced on its website on Tuesday that President Thein Sein had pardoned the prisoners "on humanitarian grounds".

However, human rights group say that a few hundred prisoners are still being held in jails.

The report said that most of the prisoners to be released in this latest batch are thought to be people convicted of committing minor crimes.