Tests on Iraqi mass grave find
Tests are being carried out in Iraq on remains that police believe were part of a mass grave thought to date back to 1991, when Saddam Hussein’s regime quenched a Shiite uprising in the south.
They were uncovered by municipal workers doing maintenance work in the Shiite holy city of Karbala.
The remains have now been sent for testing in an effort to identify the bodies, Karbala police spokesman Rahman Mashawy said.
He did not say how many bodies were found and the police claim could not be independently verified.
Human rights organisations estimate that more than 300,000 people, mainly Kurds and Shiite Muslims, were killed and buried in mass graves during Saddam Hussein’s 23-year rule, which ended when US-led forces toppled his regime in 2003.
Meanwhile more than 10,000 people backing Sunni Arab and secular Shiite politicians marched through Baghdad in support of a national unity government.
And in attacks on security forces six Iraqi police officers and two bystanders were killed.
Violence has increased across Iraq after a lull following the December 15 parliamentary elections, with at least two dozen people – including two US soldiers – killed in shootings and bombings on Monday and 18 on Sunday.
Officials blamed the surge in violence on insurgent efforts to deepen the political turmoil surrounding the contested vote.
Preliminary figures – including some returns released on Monday from ballots cast early by expatriate Iraqis and some voters inside Iraq – have given a big lead to the religious Shiite bloc that controls the current interim government.
The violence came as three opposition groups threatened a wave of protests and civil disobedience if fraud charges are not properly investigated.
Earlier today the US military said two US pilots died in a helicopter accident in western Baghdad Monday night. The accident was under investigation; the military said no hostile fire was involved.
