MONDAY,MAY 5,2003
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN • 7A
Mass graves of slaughtered Iraqis found near Najaf
The Associated Press
KHAN AL-RUBEA, Iraq — Haidar Mohammed al-Atwan was 29 years old when he was blindfolded, tied up and shot in the back of the head following a failed Shiite uprising against Saddam Hussein in 1991.
Sabah Amir Mohammed al-
Tamimi was 19. So was Anma Ali.
Their remains, complete with ID cards, were dug up with the bodies of 69 others Saturday and yesterday from a shallow mass grave about 13 miles northwest of Najaf, one of Shiite Muslims' holiest cities. Bullet casings also were found in and near the graves.
Iraqis exhumed bodies with shovels and their bare hands, and they expected to find more. Others were searching the area
around Najaf for additional mass grave sites they believe are in the area. At least one smaller site, guarded by U.S. Marines, turned up a few miles away.
"This is the tip of the iceberg in this country," said Marine Capt. Mike Urena. "I am sure you will find more."
More than 25 bodies were unearthed Saturday, and at least 10 had been identified, local Iraqis said. About 47 sets of remains, including those of women, were uncovered yesterday afternoon. The men and women were apparently lined up and shot.
It was unclear how many bodies were buried at the site, but several mounds were visible dotting the flat farmland — mounds that U.S. Marines said could mark additional gravesites.
"I'm looking for my relatives," said Jawad Shaker, searching the site. Another person said he was searching for a nephew who disappeared in 1991.
Human rights groups said they believed Iraq was dotted with mass graves, many containing what they said could be victims of Saddam's various purges, retribution and crushing of any opposition to his absolute power. Access to such suspected sites was prohibited before Saddam's government fell.
"Everybody knew and could see, but they kept quiet," said Kamel al-Tamimi, a farmer. "We were told to stay away from this area, not to go near it, that it was a security zone."
The large grave being excavated yesterday, residents said was linked to the Shilte uprising that took place after the 1991 Gulf War. Shiites seized control of most of Iraq's south, and Saddam's armed forces used helicopter gunships and tanks to defeat the lightly armed rebels.
Thousands of people are believed to have been executed after the failed revolt. Shiites, a minority in the Islamic world, make up 60 percent of Iraq's Muslims and were ruled for a generation by Saddam's overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim Baath Party.
For many residents of the Najal area, that excruciating saga of more than a decade ago is being brought home painfully now that Saddam's regime has gone and they are free to search once-forbidden parts of the landscape for their missing.
Yesterday, as five people dug away at the site, a farmer who refused to give his name said he saw people blindfolded, their hands tied behind them, and shot in the back of the head after the 1991 uprising.
A few miles away, Marines guarded another site where two bodies and four bullet casings were found. A red keffiyiah was wrapped around the eyes of one skull. Some bodies — including those of al-Atwan, al-Tamimi and Ali — had identification cards in their pockets.
At the larger site, items horrifying in their ordinariness were unearthed, one by one: women's blue and black slippers; a comb; a piece of a traditional cloak; decaying gray pants; fragments of wristwatches.
Al-Atwan's remains and others found during the weekend were wrapped in white shrouds after they were dabbed in sand, a Muslim ritual. Plastic bags tied to the shrouds contained some of the dead people's belongings. Names that had been handwritten in ink on most of the identity cards had faded, though some had photos still stapled to the cards.
The Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, a Shiite Muslim group, was directing the excavation of the site and said it was preparing a special section of a cemetery for what it called the "Martyrs of the 1991 Uprising."
Later Sunday, the Marines handed over control of their site to the Iraqi Unity Association, led by U.S.-appointed Gov. Abdel-Monem Abboud.
Iraqi police return to chaotic conditions in Baghdad
The Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Police in Iraq's capital returned to work in force yesterday, but there were few patrols on Baghdad's lawless streets as officers struggled to navigate a chaotic new order that had yet to determine salaries, responsibilities or even chain of command.
The verdict: In Baghdad, even some of the police don't feel safe yet
Hundreds of officers milled about stations after the U.S.-led coalition issued a radio appeal for all officers in the four main police forces to return to work as of yesterday.
Although a smattering of police officers had returned to their jobs on their own initiative in the days after the Americans took Baghdad, yesterday was the first official day of work.
But while they surveyed looted offices and mangled patrol cars, few officers were seen on the beat. In a city where the law of the gun now prevails in most places, many of the mostly unarmed policemen said they didn't feel secure.
"You will probably notice that the citizens are respecting the American patrols more than the Iraqi patrols. That's because the Americans have weapons," said Col. Karim Sarhan, 47, cruising the streets in a white Nissan Maxima with police lights but no license plates.
Most Iraqis — and many high-level U.S. military officials — see law and order as the most urgent task of the still-to-beformed new government. Until the streets are safe, they say, stores can't open, factories can't
produce and children can't attend school.
But getting police to restore order among citizens who have long considered them enforcers of a repressive regime is a monumental task. Complicating matters, officers complained that the coalition appeared confused about their duties.
"Everybody is imposing himself as the commander. There is no organization," Sgt. Haider Jamal shouted at policemen, journalists and U.S. troops. "If you don't give me my salary, I'll become a looter."
Gen. Hamid Othman, the new Baghdad police chief, said he was still working on assignments and duties.
"Within two or three days, things will be normalized," he said. "Our goal is to acqui-
rity and safety, in cooperation with Bughdad's citizens."
Philip Hall, a coalition liaison with the Interior Ministry, which controls the police, acknowledged the disarray but said police would soon be back in force.
"Today marks a very important start in resuming civilian life in Baghdad," Hall said. "We recognize that there is a very difficult security situation at the moment, and we therefore see an urgent need for the police force."
In Hillah, 80 miles south of Baghdad, Los Angeles Police Department officers from a reserve Marines unit trained about 20 Iraqi police officers yesterday.
Soldiers in central Karbala began a four-week training program and reserve Marines with police experience in nearby Najaf made recommendations for training there, U.S. Central Command said.
In Baghdad, many officers reported for duty to the police academy. A fleet of Humvees filled with U.S.Military Police stood ready, but their commander, Col.Ted Spain, said joint patrols were still days away.
Coalition officials said all returning officers would receive a one-time emergency payment of $20 while payrolls were being reconstituted. The officers also will get pistols; no larger weapons will be allowed.
But the guard at the academy gate, 1st Sgt. Ibrahim Youssef, had a Kalashnikov slung over his shoulder. He said the U.S. Military Police had told him it was OK — because "a pistol is not enough to deal with the criminals."
Military police refused comment, but Hall said: "We'll be talking with them about that."
Around Baghdad, police stations were filled with officers surveying damage and discussing their fate. At the New Baghdad precinct, policemen debated who would pay them as they picked through looted offices.
"No patrols today," said Capt. Oweid fabar. "Maybe tomorrow."
A few patrols set out from the Traffic Police headquarters, where Saddam Hussein's portrait still stood with the motto: "God save Iraq and Saddam."
Maj. Gen. Kais Mohammed Naif, head of the traffic force, presided from a dusty desk in a looted office, his only other furniture a garish set of yellow couches. He estimated that 90 percent of his 1,100 officers returned yesterday
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