Hundreds of human remains were discovered today by British soldiers in a makeshift morgue in southern Iraq, according to agency reports.
The remains, including bundles of bone in strips of military uniform, were found in an abandoned Iraqi military base on the outskirts of Al Zubayr. Experts say that tests could reveal the identities of the victims and their killers. It was not known how long the remains had been there, but they will be investigated by forensic specialists as possible evidence of atrocities carried out by President Saddam Hussein’s regime. There was no immediate indication of the nationalities of the dead, and it appeared they had died some time ago. The estimated 200 coffin-sized boxes “contain bags, each labelled, and there’s human remains inside the bags,” said Captain Jack Kemp of the Royal Horse Artillery. He said the remains were found when British forces were conducting clearance operations within half a mile of one of their artillery pieces. “I really wouldn’t like to speculate on where the bones have come from. All I could say is it’s not from the current war because obviously the state of the bones and they’ve decomposed,” said Captain Kemp. Video showed the boxes stacked five high on one side of the warehouse, and other boxes were lined up on the other side. The video showed one skull which was missing front teeth and a large hole in the nasal area. A British soldier held up folders containing lists written in Arabic. British soldiers also discovered a catalogue of photographs of the dead. The photographs indicated that some had been shot in the head, according to a report by Vanessa Allen of Press Association. After permitting some journalists to look around the warehouse, British forces sealed the facility. “We have placed it out of bounds to all personnel and we will treat it as a mass grave,” Kemp said. Al Zubayr is 15 miles southwest of Iraq’s second city Basra, in an area secured by British troops allied with US forces which invaded the country on March 20. Sky News, in a live report from west of Basra, carried video images of the morgue, showing a line of cardboard boxes with what appeared to be white shrouds in each of them. A British soldier was also seen flipping through what appeared to be a handwritten list of the dead. Allen, of PA, who is embedded with the British army’s Royal Logistic Corps, reported that she had seen cardboard coffins “stacked five deep" in the warehouse. A neighbouring building “contained apparent cells and catalogues of photographs of the dead, most of whom had died from gunshot wounds to the head." “Others were mutilated beyond recognition, their faces burned and swollen in the faded black and white photographs,” she reported. “Outside stood what one soldier described as ’a purpose-built shooting gallery’." She said a tiled plinth, about a foot in height, stood in a courtyard, with the brickwork behind it riddled with bullets. Behind it was a drainage ditch. “Inside the warehouse, one of the bags and coffins contained an identity card written in Arabic, while military webbing and boot soles were visible in others,” she reported. “Human skulls, their teeth broken and missing, looked out from other bags, bundled into the coffins." Investigators may be able to work out the identities of the bodies and those who killed them, possibly leading to war crimes trials, an expert said. Pathologists will carry out post mortem examinations and stand a good chance of being able to identify the victims, said Dr Bill Hunt, a retired forensic pathologist who was involved in the examination of mass graves in Bosnia in 1996 and 1997. “They will be able to say approximately the age of the victims, and to say what sex they were, and how tall they were,” he said. “These days DNA is also very important - it can be checked against personal possessions or the DNA of relatives. “Comparison of teeth with dental records is also very useful - if records are available in Iraq.” The next step now would be to document and label all the remains that had been found then move them to a safe facility for examinations to take place. “There may be forensic experts already in place or they can be brought in from around the world,” Dr Hunt said. “Because of events in the Balkans there are large numbers of forensic pathologists throughout the world who are experienced in the examination of victims of mass violence.” One of the first steps would be to X-ray bones and skulls to find bullets or fragments of metal which would help ascertain how the victims died. “The traditional method of execution, a bullet in the back of the head, is less common now - in a lot of military executions they just spray them with an AK-47. By collecting the bullets, one can say what type of weapon was used. “If it is possible to compare the bullet with the weapon, one can say what actual weapon was used.” | 
