Iran Returns Remains Of 38 Iraqi Soldiers

BAGHDAD (AP) - An Iraqi government official says Iran has handed over the remains of 38 Iraqi soldiers killed during the 1980s war between the two nations.

Iraqi Human Rights Ministry officer Hussein Eidi Hassan said on Tuesday that only five of the soldiers have been identified so far and their remains have been handed over to their families.

DNA samples will be taken from the other remains before the soldiers are buried in a temporary grave in the southern city of Basra.

The two nations signed an agreement in October 2008 to find tens of thousands of soldiers still missing after the eight-year war.

Hassan says the remains of at least 2,139 Iraqi and 1,453 Iranian soldiers have been returned since 1996.