| Never forgive, never forget. |
NAJAF, Iraq - Gravediggers uncovered the remains of at least 13 people from a mass grave on Tuesday which Iraqi officials said was the work of Saddam HusseinÂ’s bloody crackdown on a 1991 Shia rebellion.
Gravediggers crouched in a large rectangular pit chipping bone fragments out of the dry earth and cradling the dusty skulls they uncovered. Police looked on as the remains were placed in piles after an excavation in a rural area north of Najaf, some 160 km (100 miles) south of Baghdad following a tip-off by a farmer.
Those in the grave had taken part in the Shaabaniya uprising, a 1991 revolt in southern Iraq against Saddam Hussein in which tens of thousands of Iraqis died, a spokesman for the Najaf provincial government said. “There is knowledge that there is more than one mass grave in this area,” said spokesman Ahmed Diabil. He said the remains of 13 bodies had been found by Tuesday afternoon and excavation was expected to continue on Wednesday. |