Bodies of Iraqi workers found in Mosul

Iraq extends emergency measures
Eighteen Iraqi workers were found dead in Mosul after they were lured to the northern city by promises of well-paid work at US bases.

Iraq's authorities have said the state of emergency which gives them special powers to fight insurgents is being extended for another month.

As violence mounts ahead of the 30 January poll, it has emerged that 18 Iraqi men recruited to work at a US base near Mosul have been murdered.

The victims, aged between 16 and 42, were driven by poverty in their village of Bayda in the relatively peaceful southern province of Zi Qar to seek work in Baghdad from where a mysterious contractor lured them north.

"The contractor did not accompany the workers but gave them an address in northern Iraq and told them to go there," said Naim Hussain Farhan Khafaji, who lost a brother in the massacre.

Their bodies were found in a field outside the northern city.

The labourers, all Shia Muslims from the Nasiriya area in the south of the country, had apparently been recruited by a contractor from a casual labour market in Baghdad.

sources:
bbc.co.uk
english.aljazeera.net

[edit on 6-1-2005 by Souljah]

I think that this answers the question "why shouldnt syrians and iranians go and help their neighbours?" once and for all, don't you?

Remember the saying " I am less afraid of the government that I am of the man next door". That certainly applies to the conditions in Iraq today.

Originally posted by jsobecky
Remember the saying " I am less afraid of the government that I am of the man next door". That certainly applies to the conditions in Iraq today.

but how were they tricked?
they were gathering workers to help build the u.s. army.
i dont think that would happen if the u.s. army was not present on iraqi soil.

i find this act dirty and extremly non-human. but then again, there is a war going on, and the iraqi resistance has a very clear message to everybody:
- if you are an iraqi citizen, help the resistance and not the american forces

simple rules,
dirty game.

Originally posted by Souljah
but how were they tricked?
they were gathering workers to help build the u.s. army.
i dont think that would happen if the u.s. army was not present on iraqi soil.

Pardon me, Souljah, but that is like saying "If the bank was not full of money, he would not have robbed it".

i find this act dirty and extremly non-human. but then again, there is a war going on, and the iraqi resistance has a very clear message to everybody:
- if you are an iraqi citizen, help the resistance and not the american forces

...or you will DIE, regardless of whether you are my brother.

Ok. That's really bad and sad. But anyone got a look into Fallujah lately ? Wonder how many dead lying in the fields or elsewhere ?

Originally posted by dixon
Ok. That's really bad and sad. But anyone got a look into Fallujah lately ? Wonder how many dead lying in the fields or elsewhere ?

fallujah is another sad chapter in this iraqi story.

want to see the number of victioms in fallujah?
go there.
the true number of all the innocent lives being lost will never be clear.

Souljah, read the articles. Really depressing. Note that these are historical numbers, almost 10 months dated. Understand that the press is still being kept out of the area. Really cringe at the thought of what's happening there, under cover of secrecy. Real sad..