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| Iraq |
| Iraq: Saddam-era mass grave found |
| 2008-11-21 |
| (AKI) - A mass grave from the era of former dictator Saddam Hussein containing the remains of 150 people has been discovered in an area south of the capital Baghdad, the Iraqi government said on Wednesday. The victims are believed to have been executed in a crackdown against the Kurdish minority by Saddam. Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the victims were from the area of Kalar, located in the northeastern province of Suleimaniyah. Suleimaniyah province, known as Zamwa prior to its founding, is the cultural base of the Sorani-speaking Kurds and an important economic centre for the Kurdish semi-autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan. A memorial ceremony was also held on Wednesday in the holy Shia city of Najaf as the victims' remains were transferred to the northern Kurdish city of Erbil. Saddam's former regime is believed to have used chemical weapons in his Anfal campaign against the Kurds, causing the deaths of an estimated 100,000 Kurds. An Iraqi court last year sentenced to death Saddam's cousin Ali Hassan al-Majeed on genocide charges for his role in the Anfal campaign. Al-Majeed, once one of the most feared figures in Iraq, was nicknamed Chemical Ali because of the poison gas that was used during the Anfal campaign. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #6 Make sure you're right, they go ahead. -Davey Crocket History will be the ultimate judge of President G.W. Bush, I have had my doubts about some of his decisions, but Iraq isn't one of them. Ask any Kurd, or Chaldean, or Maronite, or Amahdi, or Yazidi. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2008-11-21 17:31 |
| #5 Not much detail here but it's a little odd that an Anfal site was anywhere near Najaf, as seems indicated. There were Anfal mass graves down near the Kuwaiti border (evidence from one was used in the Anfal case), but in central-southern the only sites I'm aware of were, logically enough, graves from the 1991 Shi'a rebellion. Don't hold your breath for any statues. Privately, regard for Bush and Americans among many Iraqis has and will remain very high. Toxic, stupid public culture in the Arab world ensures that that regard remains a discreet open secret. Meanwhile, here in the US, the insane demonization and public trashing of Bush has made the Arab world look less nutty by comparison. Quite an accomplishment. |
| Posted by: Verlaine 2008-11-21 14:53 |
| #4 "Saddam's former regime is believed to have used chemical weapons in his Anfal campaign" What the hell is with that qualifier? They've hung men, including Hussein himself, based on court fucking convictions. What will it take for some asshole writers to drop the allegedlies and "is believed to have"s? |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2008-11-21 12:12 |
| #3 If they can stay free that long. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2008-11-21 08:53 |
| #2 One day Iraq will dedicate a statue in honor of Bush the Liberator. Very true. |
| Posted by: DanNY 2008-11-21 08:42 |
| #1 One day Iraq will dedicate a statue in honor of Bush the Liberator. |
| Posted by: WilliamMarcyTweed 2008-11-21 08:37 |