A police official from Buthidaung said, on condition of anonymity, that the prison authority will release 341 prisoners from Buthidaung Prison. Among them are 20 prisoners, who were released on 18 May, 2011.

Buthidaung Prison, which is located 80 miles north of the Arakan State capital Sittwe, has around 1,560 prisoners, including nearly 30 political prisoners.

A released Muslim prisoner from Pound Zar Kyin Dan Village in Maungdaw Township said, "I was released by prison authorities yesterday along with 19 other prisoners from Buthidaung Prison. The authority will release the remaining prisoners today and tomorrow."

According to source close to the prison, three political prisoners from Buthidaung Prison are included in the list of those being released on amnesty, but no one knows who they are.

A prominent former student leader, Ko Htay Kywe, is being detained in Buthidaung prison but he is unlikely to be included in the amnesty because he is serving a 65-year jail term there.

President Thein Sein has also ordered prison terms reduced by one year for all prisoners in Burma. There are an estimated 60,000 prisoners being held in 42 prisons and 109 work sites around the country.

In Arakan state, there are four prisons - Sittwe, Buthidaung, Kyauk Pru and, Thandwe. The authority also released some prisoners from Sittwe, Kyauk Pru and Thandwe on Wednesday.

A government official from Sittwe said that the prison authority released only eight prisoners from Sittwe prison yesterday evening and the release will be continued today.

In Kyuak Pru Prison, a total of 148 prisoners will be released but most are normal criminal prisoners, not political prisoners.

The authority will be releasing the prisoners freed under the amnesty and one-year sentence commute until 24 May in groups, said officials.