Iran Releases 500 Iraqi POWs Held for Years
Thousands of relatives today welcomed home about 500 Iraqi prisoners of war held for more than a decade by Iran.
Soldiers on both sides of the border clapped and waved banners as the weary, unsteady Iraqi prisoners were hugged by their relatives, some of whom had spent two nights in the desert waiting for the release.
Iranian officers carried disabled Iraqi prisoners and handed them over to Iraqi counterparts. Iranian soldiers helped the sick to stretchers and onto ambulances.
Salma Mahmoud threw her black veil away and cheered when her eyes fell on her infirm husband. “That’s Faiq. It is him. It is him,” she shouted, pouring kisses on his cheeks, forehead and hands.
Iraq and Iran have so far repatriated nearly 100,000 POWs from their 1980-88 war. Each accuses the other of giving false reports on how many prisoners are still being held.
Fahmi Qeisi, who heads Iraq’s war victims committee, said his government believes that 13,000 POWs are still being held by Iran. He said Iraq holds no Iranian POWs on its soil. Tehran says Iraq still keeps 2,806 Iranian prisoners.
The International Committee of the Red Cross arranged the latest repatriation.
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