The Iraqis' Stories: Burial society honors the unclaimed dead with tradition

Twice a week, the large delivery truck from Baghdad rolls into the vast cemetery of this holy Shiite Muslim city. A bus follows, bearing wooden caskets on its roof.

Half a mile beyond the cemetery gates, at the edge of the desert, the passengers get out of the bus and set to work unloading the truck's grim cargo. On an average day, there will be 70 to 100 bodies, victims of the sectarian bloodletting that has gripped Iraq.

The men belong to a word-of-mouth burial society for the unclaimed dead, formed during the 1980s war with Iran, starting small and growing with the need. Today, about 500 men — laborers, professionals, clerics and tribal leaders — are members of the legation of the dead in this country where deep piety and terrible brutality have repeatedly intertwined.

The society has no name and no officers. It adheres to no religious sect or political agenda. Thirty to 60 men make each trip. Some go every time; those who have to take time off from work may go only once every few weeks. They pay their own expenses and have rejected government compensation.

"We told them that if there will be money for this work we withdraw, as an act cannot be evaluated with money," said taxi driver Hashim Saadi, 53. "We want the blessing of God only."

Many who belong were drawn to it by their own experiences.

"When I look at them, I feel deeply sad," Saadi said. "Each one of them I see as my son, who was kidnapped five months ago. He was in his last year in the College of Economy and Administration at Baghdad University. I expect to see his body any time with any group we are bringing."

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