IRAQ: IRAN AND IRAQ RELEASE OVER 700 PRISONERS OF WAR HELD SINCE 1980-1988 IRAN-IRAQ WAR

Record ID: 208342

  • Title: IRAQ: IRAN AND IRAQ RELEASE OVER 700 PRISONERS OF WAR HELD SINCE 1980-1988 IRAN-IRAQ WAR
  • Date: 17th March 2003
  • Summary: (U6) AL-MUNDHARIYA BORDER POINT, DIYALAH PROVINCE, ABOUT 200 KM NORTHEAST BAGHDAD, IRAQ (MARCH 17, 2003) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. LV AL-MUNDHARIYA BORDER POINT BETWEEN IRAQ AND IRAN BEFORE EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS OF WARS FROM 1980-1988 IRAN-IRAQ WAR 0.03 2. MCU MAN HOLDING LITTLE GIRL 0.08 3. SV CROWD WAITING IN FRONT OF PORTRAITS OF LEADERS 0.11 4. CU ROAD SIGN SAYING "TO IRAN" 0.16 5. SV OF BORDER GUARDS 0.20 6. SV OF IRAQI PRISONERS OF WAR (POW'S) ARRIVING BACK IN IRAQ (2 SHOTS) 0.33 7. SV/MCU EMOTIONAL SCENES, RELATIVES HUGGING AND KISSING NEWLY RELEASED PRISONERS OF WAR (3 SHOTS) 1.35 8. SV NEWLY RELEASED IRAQI POW'S BOARDING BUSES 1.52 9. MCU RELATIVES HUGGING EACH OTHER, CRYING (2 SHOTS) 2.05 10. MCU WOMAN CLAPPING 2.08 12. FAMILY GREETING NEWLY RELEASE POW 11. MCU FAMILY GREETING NEWLY RELEASED/(Arabic) UNIDENTIFIED NEWLY RELEASED IRAQI PRISONER OF WAR, SAYING: "All of us will redeem ourselves for President Saddam Hussein, all Iraqis should follow Mr. President, there is no alternative for President Saddam at all." 2.28 12. LV CROWD AT BORDER CROSSING 2.34 13. CU NEWLY RELEASED POW'S WAVING FROM BUS 2.37 14. SV OFFICIALS IN CROWD, RELATIVES WAVING 2.48 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 1st April 2003 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: AL-MUNDHARIYA, 200 KM NORTHEAST OF BAGHDAD, IRAQ
  • Country: Iraq
  • Reuters ID: LVA8K8S2G3JKRJU7E5O6W4JT4YPJ
  • Story Text: Iran and Iraq have released over 700 prisoners of war,
    held since the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.



    Iran on Monday (March 17) returned about 400 Iraqi
    prisoners of war from a 1980-88 conflict between the two
    countries. Iraq released a similar number of Iranian prisoners
    of war.

    The POWs were handed over at a border crossing linking
    Khosravi in western Iran to al-Munthiriya in Iraq as part of a
    prisoner exchange agreement..
    Iran and Iraq said last week they would swap more than
    1,200 prisoners, starting with Monday's handover.

    The prisoners were returned as Washington and its allies
    abandoned efforts to win U.N. backing for war against Iraq and
    prepared to deliver a final ultimatum to President Saddam
    Hussein to go into exile or face annihilation.

    Iran and Iraq, both labelled members of an "axis of evil"
    by U.S. President George W. Bush, fought each other to a
    standstill in a war that killed a hundreds of thousands.

    There were emotional scenes at the border, as families
    greeted relatives -- some of them had not seen each other for
    almost 20 years. Iraqi officials watched as relatives hugged
    and kissed each other, some in tears.

    "All of us will redeem ourselves for President Saddam
    Hussein, all Iraqis should follow Mr. President, there is no
    alternative for President Saddam at all," said a middle-aged
    man who declined to give his name.

    Iran has pursued a policy of "active neutrality" in the Iraq
    crisis, urging Saddam to disarm while condemning the
    possibility of a U.S.-led attack on Baghdad.

    Last year, the Geneva-based International Committee of the
    Red Cross said it had supervised the repatriation of more than
    97,400 POWs since the Iran-Iraq conflict.

    But the fate of thousands of combatants listed as missing
    in action remains a source of tension between the two
    countries.

    clv/cr

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