Iraqi government: Saddam Hussein-era mass grave unearthed

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A mass grave has been discovered south of Baghdad with the remains of 150 victims of a crackdown against Kurds under former dictator Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi government said Wednesday. A memorial was held Wednesday in the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf as the remains were transferred to the Kurdish city of Irbil in the north. Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the victims are believed to have been killed execution-style and were from the Kalar area in the northern Kurdish province of Sulaimaniyah. Hundreds of thousands of Kurds were killed or expelled from northern Iraq during the so-called Anfal campaign in the late 1980s. Several other mass graves have been found previously containing victims of atrocities blamed on Saddam's regime.