Syria hands over bodies of 2 Iraqi journalists

BAGHDAD – An Iraqi official says Syria has handed over the bodies of two Iraqi journalists killed during that country's conflict.

Brig. Gen. Qassim al-Dulaimi, an army commander in Iraq's western Anbar province that borders Syria, said Tuesday that the journalists' remains were received at the al-Waleed border crossing on Monday night.

Al-Dulaimi says the two died in the Damascus suburb of Jaramana but it's unclear when or how. There has been no fighting there over the past few days.

He says cards from the Iraqi journalists' syndicate were found in their pockets, identifying them as Ali Juburi and Falah Taha.

The Baghdad-based independent Journalists' Freedom Observatory says Juburi was an editor of a weekly newspaper while Taha was a free-lance reporter. JFO is warning Iraqi reporters not to travel to Syria.