BAGHDAD: Iraqi and US forces have found at least 86 corpses across Iraq over the past 24 hours, the US military and local security officials said on Thursday.   

A security official said that 58 corpses were recovered in Baghdad, while the US military said 28 bodies were found in a "mass grave" in the northeastern Diyala province.   

The military said the 28 bodies found south of Baquba, the provincial seat of Diyala, were first taken to Nahrwan for possible identification by family members and then transported to Baghdad.   

Baghdad and Diyala are Iraq's flashpoint regions with thousands of people killed over the past few months in apparent sectarian attacks.   

Dozens of bodies are recovered daily from the streets of Baghdad -- the epicentre of the communal bloodletting -- of men killed execution-style.   

The latest discovery of bodies comes as US President George W Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki are holding talks in Amman on how to stop the sectarian bloodshed.