At least 300,000 in Iraq mass graves

BAGHDAD, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- A U.S. official in Baghdad Saturday said at least 300,000 people are believed to be buried in 260 mass graves around Iraq.

Sandra Hodgkinson, head of the mass grave action plan, made the revelation during a three-day conference to prepare Iraqi officials for disinterring mass graves, the BBC reported.

So far, 40 mass graves have been confirmed, she said. The sites mostly contain the remains of ethnic Kurds and Shiite Muslims killed for opposing the regime of Saddam Hussein between 1983 and 1991.

The conference will prepare Iraqi human rights workers and officials to start disinterring graves and to persuade families not to dig up bodies themselves, the BBC said.

There are concerns relatives may be destroying evidence as they try to recover their loved ones.

"We believe, based on what Iraqis have reported to us, that there are 300,000 dead and that's the lower end of the estimates," Hodgkinson said.