[Gene Randall, Cnn Anchor:] Years after the end of the Iran-Iraq War, almost 2,000 Iraqi POWs are finally going home. CNN's James Martone reports from the release point on the Iran- Iraq border.
[James Martone, Cnn Correspondent:] Free at last, Iraqi prisoners of war return to their country after as many as 18 years captive in Iran. For most, it was a tearful encounter with loved ones they had not seen in years, or with sons and daughters some of them had never seen. Khaled Khalil Ismael was meeting his family again for the first time in 12 years. His wife, Muthana had been waiting for him on the border for two days with their three children. The youngest of whom, a girl, was not even born when Khaled was captured in 1988. "I can't express anything, just that I have been born again," said Khaled. The prisoners, released under the monitoring of the International Committee of the Red Cross, were put onto buses by the Iraqi authorities. After a medical examination, including an AIDS test, they will be taken home.
[Beat Schweizer, International Red Cross:] They will meet their families and I think this is the very first priority that these prisoners can take, can meet their families. We will debrief them once they have settled down a little bit. And if there are individual cases needing assistance, they will get that from us.
[Martone:] The prisoners are heralded here as heroes of the eight- year war with Iran that claimed nearly a million lives in all. Iraqi officials say the prisoners will be given up to 300,000 dinars, about 150 U.S. dollars, to help them start their lives anew. [on camera]: Close to 2,000 Iraqi prisoners of war are expected to be released by the end of this operation. But both Iraq and Iran say that thousands of their soldiers remain held by the other side nearly 12 years after their war. James Martone, CNN, on the Iraqi-Iranian border.