It was also retasked with flooding the southern marshlands that had been ordered drained.

Jane's Defence Weekly for 18 July 1992 stated that 10,000 troops from 5 divisions were fighting against Shia Muslims in the southern marshlands.

The Shiites of the inaccessible southern marshlands have long been a center of opposition to Mr. Hussein's Government.

Government forces in Iraq have stepped up a campaign to empty wide sections of the country's southern marshlands.

Iran said today that Iraqi forces had begun an attack on hundreds of thousands of Shiite Muslims trapped in Iraq's southern marshlands.

Iranian forces repeatedly used human wave attacks in the southern marshlands, only to be repulsed by forces of the Iraqi Third Corps.

The virulence of the Iraqi Government campaign against Shiite rebels in the southern marshlands is starkly apparent.

The Shiite Muslims living in the southern marshlands have long opposed the Government of Saddam Hussein.

Many of the documents bear tantalizing references to an escape by Fawzi to Iraq's southern marshlands or even Iran.

Mr. Alwash, an environmental scientist, has said he will use the university as a base for his research project, which is about rejuvenating the southern marshlands.