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More Than 50 Bodies Found in Iraq River
Iraqi President Says More Than 50 Bodies Found in Tigris River; 19 Bodies Left in Soccer Stadium
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani announcing that the bodies of more than 50 people have been recovered from the Tigris River and have been identified, during a news conference in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, April 20, 2005. The bodies were believed to have been those of hostages seized in the Madain region earlier this month. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
By SAMEER N. YACOUB Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq Apr 20, 2005  The bodies of more than 50 people have been recovered from the Tigris River and have been identified, President Jalal Talabani said Wednesday. He said the bodies were believed to have been those of hostages seized in a region south of Baghdad earlier this month.
In a separate discovery, another 19 Iraqis were shot to death and left lined up against a bloodstained wall in a soccer stadium in the town of Haditha, about 140 miles northwest of Baghdad, an Iraqi reporter and residents said.
Talabani did not specify when or where the bodies were recovered from the Tigris. However, he gave the information in response to a question about the search for hostages reportedly seized from the area around Madain, 14 miles south of Baghdad.
Shiite leaders and government officials claimed last week that Sunni militants had abducted as many as 100 Shiite residents from the area and were threatening to kill them unless all Shiites left. But when Iraqi forces moved into the town of about 1,000 families over the weekend, they found no captives, and residents said they had seen no evidence anyone had been seized.
"Terrorists committed crimes there. It is not true to say there were no hostages. There were. They were killed, and they threw the bodies into the Tigris," Talabani said. "We have the full names of those who were killed and those criminals who committed these crimes."
In Haditha, taxi drivers Rauf Salih and Ousama Halim said they rushed to the stadium after hearing gunshots and found the bodies lined up against a wall. The reporter and other residents counted 19 bodies and said all appeared to have been shot.
Residents said they believed the victims all men in civilian clothes were soldiers abducted by insurgents as they headed home for a holiday marking the birthday of the prophet Muhammad.
The reporter did not see any military identification documents on the bodies and it was not possible to verify the claim, which may have been based on a previous incidents, including one in October when insurgents ambushed and executed about 50 unarmed Iraqi soldiers as they were heading home from a U.S. military training camp northeast of Baghdad.
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani in a press conference to reporters Wednesday was quoted saying:

:"More than 50 bodies have been brought out from the Tigris and we have the full names of those who were killed and those criminals who committed these crimes.

:… terrorists committed crimes there. It is not true that there were no hostages. There were, but they were killed and they threw the bodies into the Tigris."

He promises more details in the coming days.

The presidential news conference was in response to events unfolding by reports from Shi'ite officials. They said Saturday that as many as 100 Shi’ites were taken hostage by Sunni fighters, and were threatened with death in the town of al-Madain, near Baghdad. An Iraqi security force on Monday raided the town of about 1,000 families, but found no evidence of a hostage situation. The Shi’ite officials later said the bodies — believed to be the hostages — were found in the Tigris River.

In a separate incident 200km north of Baghdad in Haditha, after hearing shots reporters and residents found the bodies of 19 men executed in a soccer stadium on Wednesday. It is believed those shot were Iraqi soldiers executed by anti-government fighters, according to an Interior Ministry official, although the victims were not dressed in military garb.  They were thought to have been heading home for a holiday marking the birthday of the prophet Muhammad when abducted by insurgents.