IRAQ: IRAQIS HAVE UNCOVERED WHAT COULD BE A MASS GRAVE DATING BACK TO A 1991 ANTI-SADDAM UPRISING

Record ID: 648508

  • Title: IRAQ: IRAQIS HAVE UNCOVERED WHAT COULD BE A MASS GRAVE DATING BACK TO A 1991 ANTI-SADDAM UPRISING
  • Date: 3rd May 2003
  • Summary: (EU) NEAR BABYLON, IRAQ (MAY 3, 2003) (REUTERS) 1. PAN OF SKULLS AND BONES IN SMALL PILES IN WASTELAND UNCOVERED BY LOCAL PEOPLE IN THE LAST TWO DAYS 0.11 2. SV/CU OF PILES OF SKULLS AND BONES AND CLOTHING (4 SHOTS) 0.28 3. SLV US MARINES AT THE SITE PREVENTING LOCALS FROM GETTING CLOSE 0.33 4. MCU (English) PROFESSOR OF UROLOGY RHAFED AL-HUSSEINI WORKING WITH US MARINES SAYING: "People from the region say they see the cars that bring those cadavers in 1991 and that they were put in this area but because they are afraid from the previous government, from the Saddam system, they didn't told anybody about that." 0.49 5. SV/SLV US SOLDIERS WALKING AT SITE AND GUARDING IT (2 SHOTS) 1.01 6. SLV LOCAL PEOPLE LOOKING 1.07 7. MCU IRAQI WOMEN 1.12 8. MCU (Arabic) SISTER OF MISSING BROTHER SAYING: "They took my brother from the house and put him in this area. He sent me a letter in April 2 1991 from this area and told us to come and get him from here. Before 13 years they took my brother from the house. He did not do anything. On April 2nd we received a letter from him asking us to save him from here. Every one I went to tell, could not help and said we are scared, we are scared. Where should I go? Where should I go?" 1.36 9. SLV REMAINS OF THE UNEARTHED BONES 1.41 10. MCU (Arabic) MAN SAYING: "In 1991 Baath party members took my brother from my house and brought him to the army. This man, he is in Al Mushawir avenue, his name is Abed Alzahra (the Baath party member), and many other innocent people in the area were taken. And since then we never heard from him again. Then we were told he was executed." 2.00 11. SLV/SV/CU MORE OF BODIES (5 SHOTS) 2.26 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 18th May 2003 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: NEAR BABYLON, IRAQ
  • Country: Iraq
  • Reuters ID: LVACAM3EUN0UCU2GOS1NQQTDMO5J
  • Story Text: Iraqis have uncovered what could be a mass grave dating
    back to a 1991 anti-Saddam uprising, digging up dozens of
    bones wrapped in stained blankets and skulls with rectangles
    cut out of the back.



    A doctor working with US soldiers said local people
    believe the remains uncovered on the outskirts of Babylon on
    Saturday (May 3) are those of opponents of deposed president
    Saddam Hussein.

    "People from the region say they see the cars that bring
    those cadavers in 1991 and that they were put in this area but
    because they are afraid from the previous government, from the
    Saddam system, they didn't told anybody about that," said
    Doctor Rhafed al-Husseini.

    Iraqis at the scene said they were looking for their sons,
    brothers, fathers and one mother who they said were taken from
    their homes in 1991 during the uprising that broke out in the
    aftermath of the Gulf War.

    U.S. Marines, who had cordoned off the site ahead of the
    arrival of forensic scientists, said they had found documents
    dating back to 1990 and needles scattered over the bodies in a
    bid to keep dogs and cats from digging there.

    They added that it seemed that some had been executed.

    Scientists will help with the further excavation of the
    site, just a few miles from Babylon, an ancient town south of
    Baghdad, in the cradle of civilisation.

    Officials of Saddam's government brutally suppressed the
    1991 uprising, in which tens of thousands of people were
    believed to have been killed.

    Washington has often referred to the brutal tactics of
    Saddam's government to add justification for launching a war
    to oust the president on March 20. Several mass graves have
    been found since Saddam was toppled on April 9.

    "They took my brother from the house and put him in this
    area," one woman said. "He sent me a letter in April 2 1991
    from this area and told us to come and get him from here.

    Before 13 years they took my brother from the house. He did
    not do anything. On April 2nd we received a letter from him
    asking us to save him from here. Every one I went to tell,
    could not help and said we are scared, we are scared. Where
    should I go? Where should I go?"
    A man said: "In 1991 Baath party members took my brother
    from my house and brought him to the army. This man, he is in
    Al Mushawir avenue, his name is Abed Alzahra (the Baath party
    member), and many other innocent people in the area were
    taken. And since then we never heard from him again. Then we
    were told he was executed."
    Others in the crowd had similar stories: security men
    arriving day or night to drag off relatives who were never to
    be seen again.



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