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Iraq, Iran Exchange More Remains Of 1980-1988 War Soldiers
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| The exchange involved the remains of 59 Iraqi soldiers and 75 Iranian soldiers at a border post in southern Iraq. |
BAGHDAD,
Feb. 17 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Iraq and Iran have exchanged the
remains of 134 soldiers killed during their 1980-1988 war, the media of both
countries reported Sunday.
The
exchanges took place at border police station of al-Faka in Meisan province,
under the supervision of the Iraqi-Iranian Committee of searching remains of
soldiers killed in war, Iraq’s official news agency INA reported. The two
sides swapped bodies of 59 Iraqis and 75 Iranians.
Present
at the ceremonies were representatives of Party and people's organizations,
Iraqi Red Crescent Society and members of Arab Baath Socialist Party.
The
exchange involved the remains of 59 Iraqi soldiers and 75 Iranian soldiers at a
border post in southern Iraq.
Iraqi
Foreign Minister Naji Sabri returned from a "positive and satisfying"
trip to Iran last month, saying Tehran wanted to resolve outstanding issues
between the two former foes. Sabri's visit sought to resolve the fate of
thousands of refugees and prisoners of war (POWs), which has been the main
hurdle to a normalization of ties between the neighbors since their devastating
1980-1988 war.
Colonel
Feysal Baqerzadeh, who supervised the exchange of the remains for Iran, said a
joint operation to find soldiers missing in action would shortly be launched in
the Meymak region of Iran and the Mandali region of Iraq, BBC’s online service
reported.
Baqerzadeh
said, "so far 52 officers working for the said committee
have
been martyred during their reach operations."
To
date, Iran has received the remains of 3,998 of its soldiers from Iraq and
handed over those of 5,323 Iraqis, he added, Iran’s official news agency IRNA
reported.
The
legacy of the 1980-88 conflict, in which an estimated one million people died,
continues to dog relations, with the two sides yet to sign a treaty ending the
war. It is worth mentioning that the two sides have never signed a formal treaty
ending the war, which cost around one million lives.
Elsewhere
in his remarks, the Iranian military official said that the bodies of the
unidentified Iranian soldiers’ remains are being buried at a graveyard in
Talaiyyeh region of Khuzestan Province, but some of them were transferred to
Zahedan and Kerman, to be buried in those cities, so that the bereaved families
in those regions, whose beloved ones have not still been found, too, could have
a spot to mourn at when they miss them, IRNA added.
Tehran
has repeatedly denied Baghdad's charges it still holds 29,000 Iraqi prisoners.
Iraq says another 60,000 are missing.
Iran,
for its part, claims Iraq is still holding some 3,200 Iranian soldiers, while
Baghdad says it holds only some 60 Iranians, who were involved in a Shiite
uprising in southern Iraq after the end of the Gulf War in 1991.
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