Iraqi families on exile in Iran return to Iraq

Twenty families who were ordered to be sent into exile in Iran by former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein following a failed uprising almost 20 years ago returned to Iraq Thursday, in a sign of warming relations between Baghdad and Tehran.

The families were exiled following their involvement in a failed uprising against Saddam in 1991. The families, mostly from the Basra area, settled into refugee camps on the Iranian border.

Iraq has been delicately balancing its relations with Iran and the U.S. But with U.S. troops withdrawing from Iraq by the end of 2011, the Shiite-dominated government has been working to strengthen relations throughout the Middle East, primarily with Shiite Iran.

The families, about 250 people, crossed the border near the southern, oil-rich city of Basra, the first of two groups expected to return this week, said Atheer Kamil, the head of immigration and displaced persons in Basra province.

Many Iraqi Shiites fled to Iran under Saddam's Sunni-dominated government. During the Iran-Iraq war, some even fought on the Iranian side against Iraq.

The U.S. has long accused Iran of training and equipping insurgents in Iraq, a charge Tehran has denied. In recent months, top U.S. commanders have accused Iran of attempting to influence upcoming Iraqi national elections.

Violence has dramatically dropped off since 2007 in Iraq, though insurgents have continued to attack civilians and U.S. and Iraqi security forces.

A bomb exploded Thursday inside a crowded barber shop, killing at least five people, an Iraqi police official said.

In southern Baghdad, gunmen opened fire on a checkpoint run by Sunni paramilitaries, known as Sons of Iraq, killing two, said another police official.