The remains of about 300 people, believed to be Kurdish...

The remains of about 300 people, believed to be Kurdish victims of the deposed regime of Saddam Hussein, were found in a mass grave seen in northern Iraq by an AFP correspondent. Bone, hair and bits of clothing were clearly visible at the bottom of a gaping hole five metres (16.5 feet) wide in a barren desert plain near the town of Hatra, about 300 kilometres (185 miles) northwest of the capital Baghdad. "So far they have taken out 50 bodies out of about 300," a local farmer, Ali Rahim, told AFP at the site, referring to Kurds and American troops who he said began excavating the pit on July 3. New digs and probes into the dried earth revealed at least nine more sets of remains, including long tufts of light brown hair and scraps of flower-printed scarves and veils, which are believed to be those of Kurdish women and children executed by Saddam's regime in 1988. The region suffered under an anti-Kurd campaign by the regime in 1988 and 1989, which the Kurds refer to as Anfal and that included the infamous chemical attack on the town of Halabja. Kurds have reported discovering several mass graves in northern Iraq. The pits are among the dozens of mass graves uncovered throughout the country since Saddam's ouster by invading US-led coalition forces on April 9. Officials at US Central Command (Centcom), in charge of US forces in Iraq, said they were not aware of the site's discovery.