More than 50 Bodies Pulled from Tigris River South of Capital
Iraqi President Jalal
Jalal Talabani
says the bodies of more than 50 people thought to have been kidnapped late last week have been pulled from the Tigris river south of Baghdad.
The president says the bodies of men, women and children were recovered and identified. He also says authorities know the identity of the killers.
Last Saturday, Shi'ite officials said about 50 people were kidnapped by Sunni militants in the town of Madaen, near the capital, and were threatened with death. But Iraqi forces who raided the town Monday said they found no evidence that anyone had been taken hostage.
Elsewhere, the bullet-riddled bodies of 19 Iraqis have been found in a soccer stadium about 200 kilometers north of Baghdad.
An Associated Press reporter in the town of Haditha said he saw the bodies of 19 men in civilian clothes lying against a wall. Residents said they believe the men were Iraqi soldiers heading home on holiday leave.
There was no government confirmation of the witness reports.
Some information for this report provided by AP, Reuters.
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.