HOLY CITY OF KARBALA, Iraq: Thousands of Iraqi men, women and children took to the streets of the holy city of Karbala to protest against massacre of Al-Madain hostages and other innocent Iraqis declaring to the world they could respond terrorists promptly if Marajay (top religious authorities) ask them to do so.

Al-Marjiyaat Ad-Diniyah have urged all Iraqis to remain patient and united to thwart anti-Iraq conspiracy.

The protestors demanded from the elected government to immediately crack down against the terrorists. Security was tightened in the holy city for protection of the demonstration.

The peaceful demonstration, led by religious scholars and clerics, came after President Jalal Talabani admitted Wednesday the badly mutilated bodies recovered from the Tigris River were those of hostages missing in the area. Some of the bodies were headless.

In a separate discovery, another 19 Iraqis were shot to death and left lined up against a bloodstained wall in a soccer stadium in the town of Haditha, about 140 miles northwest of Baghdad, an Iraqi reporter and residents said.

Talabani gave the information in response to a question about the search for hostages reportedly seized from the area around Madain, 14 miles south of Baghdad.

Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq leaders claimed last week that terrorists had abducted more than 150 Mo’minin (believers) including men, women and children from the area and were threatening to kill them unless all believers left. The terrorists have also destructed two mosques in Madain including Ar-Rasul Al-Adham (p) Mosque.

"Terrorists committed crimes there. It is not true to say there were no hostages. There were. They were killed, and they threw the bodies into the Tigris," Talabani said. "We have the full names of those who were killed and those criminals who committed these crimes."

"We will give you details in the coming days.”

Meanwhile, badly mutilated dead bodies have been laid to rest in mass graves after cameras had filmed them lying on the river bank.

"We discovered bags with the slaughtered children inside them," local policeman Riyadh Sakhi told. "There were two girls. One was a student and the other was very young. We discovered bags with slaughtered and beheaded young people. We discovered a large number of unidentified bodies."

According to SCIRI, headed by Sayyed Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim, only some hostages have been recovered while fate of others is unknown to date.

Witnesses and experts have confirmed presence of several other dead bodies in the river but these could not be taken out due to shortage of frogmen and divers.

SCIRI gave names of abductees in Madain whose fate is still unknown. They are Dr Hassan Naim Abbas Al-Hardani, Jamal Nasser Motab Ashur Ash-Shemry, Muhammad Juma Amoud, Raed Moheeson Mash’hof, Ali Moz’al Al-Qoreyshi and his two brothers, Khaled Mahmoud Hussein along with his brothers, Shakir Mahmoud Hussein, Nasser Hussein, Ali Khalf Mahmoud, Abdul Azim As-Sedlani, Muhammad Irad Ar-Ridha Dayi, Qassem Muhammad Shamikh, Col Abu Aus, Muhammad Barod Ash-Shemry, Ammar Aylan Al-Ghorbavi, Qassem (Abu Mousa), Khalf Muhammad Ghefar At-Tayi, Abbas Habib Muhammad, Abdul Amir Aboud Al-Aboudy, Muhammad Kadhim, Abu Adnan Al-Baydhani, Shakir Jalal Ash-Shahily, Younas Aboud As-Saedy, Tareq Muhammad Wali Ad-Doraji, Ahmed Muhammad Wali Ad-Doraji, Ghazi Shanif Mahmoud, Abdul Mohsin Atiya Akab Al-Qoreyshi, Rahim Hassan As-Saweady, Abbas Qassem Jaber Al-Batat, Muhammad Shalv Al-Alyavi, SAbah Al-Ataby, Karim Al-Kar’any, Abu Haydar As-Saedy, Khaled Makheylaf Aloush, Ahmed Ali, Abu Hardan Ad-Dalimy, Maher Ad-Dalimy, Najm Aboud Ad-Dalimy and Ahmed Muhammad Al-Amash.

In Baghdad, a huge protest was held in front of Iran embassy against Iranian agencies in the country. The protestors were demanding Iranian secret agencies’ elements to get out of Iraq.
Iraq interior minister Falah An-Naqib accused Iranian agencies that they interfered in the Madain crisis.

Hazem Shalan, minister for defense affairs, said the Iraqi-US plan to crack down terrorists in Madain after hostage-taking was leaked leading to fleeing of the terrorists.