Posted on 05/03/2003 11:28:46 AM PDT by knak
NEAR BABYLON, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqis uncovered on Saturday 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.
Iraqis 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 (news - web sites).
A few said they knew of this site but had never dared to start digging with President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) still in power.
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.
"We suspect that this happened during the 1991 uprising and eyewitnesses say they saw people drive up here to dump the dead," Lieutenant David Lewis of the 1st Marine regiment, 1/4 battalion, told Reuters.
"Some of the skulls appear to have been cut open, maybe they were experimenting with the prisoners. Some were executed, you can see bullet holes in their skulls. Some were still strapped to metal structures."
He said the scientists would help with the further excavation of the site, just a few miles from Babylon, an ancient town south of Baghdad, in the cradle of civilization.
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.
"I lost four relatives... My father and older brothers, they took them for joining the intifada," Hazim Talib-Abed said.
"When they came for my younger brother, we did not let them know where he was. Instead they took my mother."
Others in the crowd had similar stories: security men arriving day or night to drag off relatives who were never to be seen again.
"My brother and I were in the army and we were coming back from Kuwait," Hassan Zair-Farhoud said. "My brother was injured and when the security forces saw us, they thought we were rebels. I managed to get away but they took my brother."
"I think he is here in this grave," he said.
OMG!!!!!
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