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Dear Ahmed and list Of course I don't know if this is the explanation of the bodies found near Basra or not but, on the basis of the little we do know, it is certainly possible: http://english.aljazeera.net/topics/article.asp?cu_no=1&item_no=1891&version =1&template_id=277&parent_id=258 * Remains of 200 killed in Iran-Iraq war found near Basra [.....] Al Jazeera television quoted an unnamed Iraqi official in Basra as saying the remains were those of Iraqi soldiers killed in the 1980-1988 war with Iran and recently repatriated by Tehran. The official said the start of the Anglo-American war on Iraq prevented officials from returning the bodies to their families. Iran and Iraq still exchange prisoners and bodies even though the war ended 15 years ago and the last prisoner swap took place on March 19 a day before the start of the current war. --- Al Jazeera with agencies > From: "IRAQI" <baghdad@easy.com> > Date: Sat, 5 Apr 2003 22:23:50 +0100 > To: casi-discuss@lists.casi.org.uk > Subject: [casi] British Find Hundreds of Boxes of Remains > > More of this would have continued to happen if > Saddam's regime was left alone. > > http://story.news.yahoo.com/news? > tmpl=story2&cid=514&e=11&u=/ap/20030405/ap_on_re_ > mi_ea/war_human_remains > > British Find Hundreds of Boxes of Remains > Sat Apr 5,11:08 AM ET Add Top Stories - AP to > My Yahoo! > > > By PATRICK McDOWELL, Associated Press Writer > > KUWAIT CITY - British forces in southern Iraq > (news - web sites) have found hundreds of boxes > containing human remains in a warehouse near > Zubayr and are investigating how they got there, > military officials said Saturday. > > > > > "Obviously, it's an unusual find," said Maj. > Mike Edwards, a British military spokesman in > Kuwait City. "Who they belonged to or how they > got there is under investigation." > > > There was no immediate indication of the > nationalities of the dead, and it appeared they > had died some time ago — not in the current > fighting. > > > Southern Iraq has been the site of bloody > battles for over the past two decades, with > heavy casualties in the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war; > the 1991 Gulf War (news - web sites); and in the > Shiite Muslim uprising that followed the Gulf > War. > > > The estimated 200 coffin-sized boxes "contain > bags, each labeled, and there's human remains > inside the bags," said Capt. Jack Kemp of the > Royal Horse Artillery. He told reporters at the > scene that the remains were found by British > forces who were searching the area within a half > mile of one of their artillery pieces. > > > "I really wouldn't like to speculate on where > the bones have come from," Kemp said. He said > the remains were decomposed, and thus were not > casualties of the current war. > > > Lt. Col. Ronnie McCourt, a spokesman for British > forces in Doha, Qatar, confirmed that British > troops found some bodies between Basra and > Zubayr. > > > Associated Press Television News video showed > the boxes stacked five high on one side of the > warehouse, and other boxes were lined up on the > other side. The video showed one skull that was > missing front teeth and had a large hole in the > nasal area. A British soldier held up folders > containing lists written in Arabic. > > > British soldiers also discovered a catalogue of > photographs of the dead. The relationship > between the photographs and the remains was not > immediately clear. > > > Faces in the photographs were burned, mutilated > or scarred by grotesque wounds, according to > Vanessa Allen, a reporter for Britain's Press > Association news agency. Some apparently had > been shot in the head, she added. > > > After permitting some journalists to look around > the warehouse, British forces sealed the > facility, Allen reported. > > > "We have placed it out of bounds to all > personnel and we will treat it as a mass grave," > Kemp said. > > > Zubayr is about 10 miles southwest of Basra, > Iraq's second-largest city with a population of > 1.5 million. British forces are seeking to root > out resistance in Basra but have refrained from > a direct assault. > > > > > This message was sent from the free private e-mail service by easy.com, the > portal site owned by Stelios and the easyGroup. This email service is > available to all members of the public to use for personal reasons only. Not > all subscribers to this e-mail service are representatives of an easyGroup > company. > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. > To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss > To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk > All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk > _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk