Iraq 'hostages dumped in river'
The bodies of more than 50 men, women and children have been recovered from the River Tigris at the town of Suwayra, south of Baghdad.
Some had been decapitated or had their throats cut.
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said the bodies were those of people who had been taken hostages and killed in the nearby town of Madain.
Meanwhile, there were reports of a large explosion inside the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad.
Earlier, at least two civilians, including a child, were killed in bomb attacks aimed at US troops or Iraqi police
And in the town of Haditha, north-west of Baghdad, at least 19 men were found dead at a football stadium.
They had apparently been lined up against a wall and shot.
The interior ministry said they were Iraqi soldiers who had been abducted by insurgents while travelling to Haditha.
'Criminals'
Suwayra is downstream from the town of Madain, where there was tension over the weekend after reports that Sunni Muslim militants had taken a large number of Shia Muslim residents hostage
It is not clear when the killings took place, though police in the area told the BBC the bodies had been pulled from the river over a period since the end of February. Some were badly decomposed.
Mr Talabani confirmed the discovery.
"More than 50 bodies have been brought out from the Tigris, and we have the full names of those who were killed and those criminals who committed these crimes," he said.
"We will give you details in the coming days... terrorists committed crimes there [in Madain].
"It is not true that there were no hostages. There were, but they were killed and they threw the bodies into the Tigris."
Mass graves
The Arabic TV channel al-Arabiya said its cameras had filmed the bodies lying on the river bank.
"We discovered bags with the slaughtered children inside them," local policeman Riyadh Sakhi told the TV.
"There were two girls. One was a student and the other was very young. We discovered bags with slaughtered and beheaded young people. We discovered a large number of unidentified bodies."
Police said they had then been buried in mass graves.
The town of Madain had been reported to be in the hands of militant Sunni insurgents.
But when government forces moved in and took control on Monday, they encountered no resistance, nor could they find any trace of hostages.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4465769.stm
The bodies of more than 50 men, women and children have been recovered from the River Tigris at the town of Suwayra, south of Baghdad.
Some had been decapitated or had their throats cut.
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said the bodies were those of people who had been taken hostages and killed in the nearby town of Madain.
Meanwhile, there were reports of a large explosion inside the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad.
Earlier, at least two civilians, including a child, were killed in bomb attacks aimed at US troops or Iraqi police
And in the town of Haditha, north-west of Baghdad, at least 19 men were found dead at a football stadium.
They had apparently been lined up against a wall and shot.
The interior ministry said they were Iraqi soldiers who had been abducted by insurgents while travelling to Haditha.
'Criminals'
Suwayra is downstream from the town of Madain, where there was tension over the weekend after reports that Sunni Muslim militants had taken a large number of Shia Muslim residents hostage
It is not clear when the killings took place, though police in the area told the BBC the bodies had been pulled from the river over a period since the end of February. Some were badly decomposed.
Mr Talabani confirmed the discovery.
"More than 50 bodies have been brought out from the Tigris, and we have the full names of those who were killed and those criminals who committed these crimes," he said.
"We will give you details in the coming days... terrorists committed crimes there [in Madain].
"It is not true that there were no hostages. There were, but they were killed and they threw the bodies into the Tigris."
Mass graves
The Arabic TV channel al-Arabiya said its cameras had filmed the bodies lying on the river bank.
"We discovered bags with the slaughtered children inside them," local policeman Riyadh Sakhi told the TV.
"There were two girls. One was a student and the other was very young. We discovered bags with slaughtered and beheaded young people. We discovered a large number of unidentified bodies."
Police said they had then been buried in mass graves.
The town of Madain had been reported to be in the hands of militant Sunni insurgents.
But when government forces moved in and took control on Monday, they encountered no resistance, nor could they find any trace of hostages.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4465769.stm
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 2:53 PM
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