The World - News from Sept. 29, 1988

Freed Iraqi prisoners of war said they were treated savagely in Iranian prison camps and that some of their friends died under torture. At a news conference presented by the Information Ministry in Baghdad, the 30 Iraqis said they were part of a group of 72 crippled prisoners Iran released two weeks ago, after the Aug. 20 truce in the Persian Gulf War. Christians among the 30 said their Shia Muslim captors punished them when they refused to convert to Islam. Others described conditions in POW camps in mountainous northern Iran, where they said they were exposed to subzero temperatures. One man, Pvt. Zamil Khalaf Zugheir, 35, said at least three of his fellow prisoners were tortured to death.