Mexico City, Feb 9 (AP) Some 222 inmates considered by many to be political prisoners of the government of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega were on their way to Washington on Thursday after an apparently negotiated mass release, family members and a former diplomat said.

Neither government confirmed the release.

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Arturo McFields, Nicaragua's former ambassador to the Organisation of American States, said the US State Department confirmed to him that 222 prisoners were put on a plane to Washington early on Thursday.

“It is a massive freeing” of prisoners seldom seen, McFields said. He credited the prisoners' families for never letting up the pressure.

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Family members of some of those released also confirmed that the prisoners were flying to Washington.

Berta Valle, the wife of opposition leader Felix Maradiaga, said the State Department told her that her husband was on the plane.(AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)