Iraq, Iran swap bodies of 1980-88 war dead

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Iraqi and Iranian troops exchanged the bodies of soldiers killed during an eight-year war between the two countries on Sunday. The remains of 200 Iraqis and 41 Iranians were returned to their native countries during a ceremony at a border checkpoint near the southern Iraqi city of Basra. It was the first such exchange since the US-led war began in 2003. Officials said that only 27 of the Iraqis and seven of the Iranians have been identified. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers from both sides were killed or went missing during the 1980-1988 war.