The International Committee of the Red Cross supervised the
handover through a border crossing near the southern Iraqi city of Basra,
agency spokesman Mohammed Salman said.
Iraq's post-Saddam government is led by Shiites who have
established closer ties to Shiite Iran.
They have established stronger trade and political relations
and have taken steps to deal with the legacy of the 1980-1988 war, which killed
1 million people on both sides and involved the use of chemical weapons by
Saddam's Iraq.
The two governments signed an agreement in October 2008 to
find tens of thousands of fighters still missing after the war. It was the
first direct agreement to tackle the problem together. Previously, each side
dealt separately with the Red Cross.
Iraqi officials also are being targeted by extremists.
Police and hospital officials in Baghdad said roadside bombs
hit motorcades carrying the director of Iraq's investment board and an Industry
Ministry director as they headed to work Monday. One person was killed in the
separate attacks and nine people were wounded, including Investment Board
director general Rashid Mihsin.
