Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Yezidi leaders meet to plot a response after the bombings
Security
(The Guardian) - Aside from the physical damage it wrought, the coordinated bombing attack by suspected al-Qaida operatives revived fears among the Yezidi community, one of the region's oldest ethno-religious groups, of annihilation at the hands of their religious enemies - in this case, Sunni extremists. Along with other religious minorities in Iraq who initially rejoiced at the toppling of the Ba'athist regime, Yezidi Kurds say the subsequent chaos and political paralysis has left them as vulne0rable as before.
"The attack came as no surprise to us," Prince Tahseen Sayid Ali, the temporal leader of the Yezidis, told the Guardian in his headquarters in Sheikhan, about 40 miles north-east of Mosul. Last April, the community came under the international spotlight when a Yezidi girl married a Muslim boy and was reported to have converted to Islam. She was promptly stoned to death by a mob in her hometown of Bazan. The murder was caught on a mobile phone camera and distributed on the internet. Yezidi leaders condemned the killing, but the damage was done.
"The attack came as no surprise to us," Prince Tahseen Sayid Ali, the temporal leader of the Yezidis, told the Guardian in his headquarters in Sheikhan, about 40 miles north-east of Mosul. Last April, the community came under the international spotlight when a Yezidi girl married a Muslim boy and was reported to have converted to Islam. She was promptly stoned to death by a mob in her hometown of Bazan. The murder was caught on a mobile phone camera and distributed on the internet. Yezidi leaders condemned the killing, but the damage was done.
In response, gunmen pulled 23 Yezidi workers off a bus near Mosul and shot them dead. Hundreds of Yezidi students at Mosul university have since either fled or moved to universities inside the Kurdish autonomous area. For the past month, said Prince Tahseen, Yezidi leaders in Sinjar had been complaining of threats by Islamists. They said the militants, holed up among local Sunni Arab settlements along the Syrian border, had effectively blockaded Yezidi towns, preventing delivery of foodstuffs and fuel.
"The Islamic terrorists had made it very clear that they wanted to see rivers of Yezidi blood," said Prince Tahseen. But no one, least of all the US army, which is nominally in control of the region, was listening. "I'm sure it will happen again unless we take steps to protect ourselves," he said. "We are a peaceful people. We don't have force of arms. The only protection is for all the Yezidis is to be part of the Kurdish self-rule zone. But whether the Arabs allow us to vote on it as the constitution says we should, is another question."
In past centuries, the Yezidi tribes had been very powerful, covering large areas of Kurdistan. But waves of persecution, particularly under the Ottomans, has meant there are only isolated groups left in Iraq: in the foothills of Kurdish mountains and further south-west in the vicinity of Jebel Sinjar. Their numbers, thought to be only a few hundred thousand, had already dwindled by the 2003 US invasion. As part of his Arabi-sation campaign, Saddam uprooted Yezidis from their ancestral lands in Sinjar, herding many of them into new "collective towns" which were little more than large concentration camps.
But the Yezidis who live to the east of Mosul have fared better. There lies the town of Sheikhan, where the prince holds court, and their main religious centre at Lalish, in a steep, wooded valley punctuated with ribbed white conical towers that mark the positions of Yezidi shrines and tombs.
"The Islamic terrorists had made it very clear that they wanted to see rivers of Yezidi blood," said Prince Tahseen. But no one, least of all the US army, which is nominally in control of the region, was listening. "I'm sure it will happen again unless we take steps to protect ourselves," he said. "We are a peaceful people. We don't have force of arms. The only protection is for all the Yezidis is to be part of the Kurdish self-rule zone. But whether the Arabs allow us to vote on it as the constitution says we should, is another question."
In past centuries, the Yezidi tribes had been very powerful, covering large areas of Kurdistan. But waves of persecution, particularly under the Ottomans, has meant there are only isolated groups left in Iraq: in the foothills of Kurdish mountains and further south-west in the vicinity of Jebel Sinjar. Their numbers, thought to be only a few hundred thousand, had already dwindled by the 2003 US invasion. As part of his Arabi-sation campaign, Saddam uprooted Yezidis from their ancestral lands in Sinjar, herding many of them into new "collective towns" which were little more than large concentration camps.
But the Yezidis who live to the east of Mosul have fared better. There lies the town of Sheikhan, where the prince holds court, and their main religious centre at Lalish, in a steep, wooded valley punctuated with ribbed white conical towers that mark the positions of Yezidi shrines and tombs.
These areas abut the Kurd's autonomous region, the most tranquil part of Iraq. Several Yezidis hold positions in the Kurdish administration and sit in the regional parliament. They are trying to convince their brethren in the Sinjar area to join them, by voting in a referendum planned for the end of the year. A recent survey suggested that 80% of Yezidis may opt to join the Kurdistan regional government if given guarantees of religious and communal freedom.
"If we are all united inside the Kurdistan federal region, then we can have better protection and also have a better chance of asking for our rights," said Prince Tahseen. That may be one main reason why they were attacked, he says.
There was no doubting the galvanising effects that the attack has had. Prince Tahseen, whose royal line is said to date back some 500 years, and his spiritual counterpart - the Yezidi's equivalent of the Pope -Baba Sheikh Khorto Haji Ismael, convened a gathering of tribal leaders in Sheikhan yesterday to plot a response. It included money and political support and a determination to bring Yezidis inside the Kurdish ruled areas for safety. After the meeting the men and their entourage left in a long convoy for Sinjar.
"If we are all united inside the Kurdistan federal region, then we can have better protection and also have a better chance of asking for our rights," said Prince Tahseen. That may be one main reason why they were attacked, he says.
There was no doubting the galvanising effects that the attack has had. Prince Tahseen, whose royal line is said to date back some 500 years, and his spiritual counterpart - the Yezidi's equivalent of the Pope -Baba Sheikh Khorto Haji Ismael, convened a gathering of tribal leaders in Sheikhan yesterday to plot a response. It included money and political support and a determination to bring Yezidis inside the Kurdish ruled areas for safety. After the meeting the men and their entourage left in a long convoy for Sinjar.
Labels: Baba Sheikh Khorto Haji Ismael, KRG, Prince Tahseen Sayid Ali, Sheikhan, Sinjar, tribal, Yezidis
Monday, August 20, 2007
Mosul curfew extended
Security
(Azzaman) - Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul, has been placed under a tight curfew covering most of the day and the whole night. The decision to slap the curfew was taken by Governor Duraid Kashmoullah following the devastating car bombings on Wednesday in which 400 people were killed and 600 wounded. The villages targeted were inhabited by Yazidis, a little know sect to the world whose members in the eyes of Qaeda organization are infidels who must either convert to Islam or die.
The devastated villages though under Kurdish militia control are still within the provincial borders of Nineveh of which Mosul is the capital. The bombings have sent yet another signal that Mosul is turning into a major Qaeda garrison. Many parts of the city itself are no-go areas for both Iraqi and U.S. troops and Qaeda militants impose their way of life relying on a strict interpretation of Islam on most of the province.
Kashmoullah in announcing the extension of the curfew to 6 a.m. from 3 p.m. said his decision was driven by “the necessity to take new security measures.” He did reveal the measures but acknowledge that operations by insurgents have increased recently and he was keen to have them contained.
The devastated villages though under Kurdish militia control are still within the provincial borders of Nineveh of which Mosul is the capital. The bombings have sent yet another signal that Mosul is turning into a major Qaeda garrison. Many parts of the city itself are no-go areas for both Iraqi and U.S. troops and Qaeda militants impose their way of life relying on a strict interpretation of Islam on most of the province.
Kashmoullah in announcing the extension of the curfew to 6 a.m. from 3 p.m. said his decision was driven by “the necessity to take new security measures.” He did reveal the measures but acknowledge that operations by insurgents have increased recently and he was keen to have them contained.
Labels: Al Qaeda, curfew, Governor Duraid Kashmoullah, Mosul, Yezidis
Friday, August 17, 2007
Yezidi leader blames Iraq, Iran for attack
Security
(Al-Sharqiyah television) - Yezidi leader Anwar Mu'awiyah al-Umawi has accused the Iraqi government and Iran of responsibility for the August 15 attacks. He told Al-Sharqiyah television in an August 15 interview from Germany: "We received direct reports from informed sources in the area that the Iraqi government played a role [in the attacks]. Gangs affiliated with Iran are known to carry out such attacks. We should not forget that Iraq is not only under U.S. occupation. Iraq is under both U.S. and Iranian occupation.
These operations are meant to harm the Iraqis rather than a certain sect." Al-Umawi said his people have no one to turn to for support. "Iraq is now run by the traitors, while patriotic Iraqi figures, prominent leaders, and secular trends are abroad. So, who is there to complain to? Shall we complain to the Iranians, who are the enemies of Iraq? Shall we complain to the Americans, who are occupying the country? We have only God to complain to."
The Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council blamed "criminal gangs" for the Sinjar attack in an August 16 press release posted to the Shi'ite party's website. Though it did not accuse any party of carrying out the attack, the party's statement implied that Sunni Arabs are to blame. The statement called on Iraqi tribes and "popular forces" to work with Iraqi security services to "rid the Iraqi people of their killers."
In an August 15 statement, President Talabani called the bombings another episode of genocide carried out by "takfiri" (Muslims who consider other Muslims to be infidels) terrorists against all segments of the Iraqi people, Al-Iraqiyah television reported. Kurdistan regional President Barzani accused the intelligence agencies of unidentified regional countries of carrying out the attacks, Al-Sharqiyah television reported.
Meanwhile, the Sunni Arab Muslim Scholars Association said it holds the Iraqi government and coalition forces responsible for the attacks. The statement also implied Iran was behind the bombings. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the bombings a "horrific crime," and stressed "the urgent need for all Iraqi leaders, regardless of their political or religious affiliations, to work together to protect civilian lives and to dedicate themselves towards a meaningful dialogue aimed at ending the violence and achieving lasting national reconciliation," according to a UN press release. The U.S. military has said the bombings bore the hallmark of Al-Qaeda in Iraq.
Kurdistan regional government Heath Minister Abd al-Rahman Yunis said the Kurdistan regional government and the Iraqi Red Crescent have begun to deliver relief supplies, food, and medicine to the villages.
Labels: Al Qaeda, AMS, Anwar Mu'awiyah al-Umawi, Iran, Iraqi government, Iraqi Red Crescent, KRG, SICI, Sinjar, Yezidis
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Death toll doubles in northern Iraq
Security
(CNN) -- The death toll in this week's suicide bombings in northern Iraq has risen to at least 500, local officials in Nineveh province said Wednesday. A girl wounded in the Tuesday attacks in northern Iraq arrives at a hospital in Duhouk, Iraq, on Wednesday. Iraqi Army and Mosul police sources earlier put the number at 260, but said it was likely to rise; 320 were reported wounded.
The Tuesday truck bombs that targeted the villages of Qahtaniya, al-Jazeera and Tal Uzair, in northern Iraq near the border with Syria, were a "trademark al Qaeda event" designed to sway U.S. public opinion against the war, a U.S. general said Wednesday. The attacks, targeting Kurdish villages of the Yazidi religious minority, were attempts to "break the will" of the American people and show that the U.S. troop escalation -- the "surge" -- is failing, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon said.
The bombings highlight the kind of sectarian tensions the troop surge was designed to stop. In another blast Thursday morning, a bomb in a parked car exploded at a busy shopping center in central Baghdad, killing at least nine people and wounding 17, Iraq's Ministry of Information said. Al Qaeda in Iraq is predominantly Sunni, and Mixon said members of the Yazidi religious minority have received threatening letters, called "night letters," telling them "to leave because they are infidels."
"This is an act of ethnic cleansing, if you will -- almost genocide when you consider the fact the target they attacked and the fact that these Yazidis, out in a very remote part of Nineveh province, where there is very little security and really no security required to this point," Mixon said. Sunni militants, including members of al Qaeda in Iraq, have targeted Yazidis in the area before.
Brig. Gen. Abdul Karim Khalaf, an Interior Ministry spokesman, said there were three suicide trucks carrying two tons of explosives. At least 30 houses and other buildings were destroyed. Khalaf said the carnage looks like the aftermath of a "mini-nuclear explosion." More bodies are expected to be found. The U.S. military said there were five bombings -- four at a crowded bus station in Qahtaniya and a fifth in al-Jazeera. The massacre comes ahead of next month's report to Congress by Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker on progress in Iraq.
The Tuesday truck bombs that targeted the villages of Qahtaniya, al-Jazeera and Tal Uzair, in northern Iraq near the border with Syria, were a "trademark al Qaeda event" designed to sway U.S. public opinion against the war, a U.S. general said Wednesday. The attacks, targeting Kurdish villages of the Yazidi religious minority, were attempts to "break the will" of the American people and show that the U.S. troop escalation -- the "surge" -- is failing, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon said.
The bombings highlight the kind of sectarian tensions the troop surge was designed to stop. In another blast Thursday morning, a bomb in a parked car exploded at a busy shopping center in central Baghdad, killing at least nine people and wounding 17, Iraq's Ministry of Information said. Al Qaeda in Iraq is predominantly Sunni, and Mixon said members of the Yazidi religious minority have received threatening letters, called "night letters," telling them "to leave because they are infidels."
"This is an act of ethnic cleansing, if you will -- almost genocide when you consider the fact the target they attacked and the fact that these Yazidis, out in a very remote part of Nineveh province, where there is very little security and really no security required to this point," Mixon said. Sunni militants, including members of al Qaeda in Iraq, have targeted Yazidis in the area before.
Brig. Gen. Abdul Karim Khalaf, an Interior Ministry spokesman, said there were three suicide trucks carrying two tons of explosives. At least 30 houses and other buildings were destroyed. Khalaf said the carnage looks like the aftermath of a "mini-nuclear explosion." More bodies are expected to be found. The U.S. military said there were five bombings -- four at a crowded bus station in Qahtaniya and a fifth in al-Jazeera. The massacre comes ahead of next month's report to Congress by Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker on progress in Iraq.
The office of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki blamed Sunni extremists for the "monstrous crime." He said a committee has been formed to investigate. Ashraf Qazi, the U.N. secretary-general's special representative for Iraq, called the attack an "abominable crime aimed at widening the sectarian and ethnic divide in Iraq." Qazi urged Iraqi authorities to bolster their efforts to protect minorities.
The Yazidi sect is a mainly Kurdish minority, an ancient group that worships seven angels, in the form of peacocks, who are subordinate to the supreme god who created the universe. A couple of related incidents in the spring highlighted the tensions between Sunnis and Yazidis. In April, a Kurdish Yazidi teenage girl was brutally beaten, kicked and stoned to death in northern Iraq by other Yazidis in what authorities said was an "honor killing" after she was seen with a Sunni Muslim man. Although she had not married him or converted, her attackers believed she had.
The Yazidis condemn mixing with people of another faith. That killing is said to have spurred the killings of about two dozen Yazidi men by Sunni Muslims in the Mosul area two weeks later. Attackers affiliated with al Qaeda pulled 24 Yazidi men out of a bus and slaughtered them, according to a provincial official.
The Yazidi sect is a mainly Kurdish minority, an ancient group that worships seven angels, in the form of peacocks, who are subordinate to the supreme god who created the universe. A couple of related incidents in the spring highlighted the tensions between Sunnis and Yazidis. In April, a Kurdish Yazidi teenage girl was brutally beaten, kicked and stoned to death in northern Iraq by other Yazidis in what authorities said was an "honor killing" after she was seen with a Sunni Muslim man. Although she had not married him or converted, her attackers believed she had.
The Yazidis condemn mixing with people of another faith. That killing is said to have spurred the killings of about two dozen Yazidi men by Sunni Muslims in the Mosul area two weeks later. Attackers affiliated with al Qaeda pulled 24 Yazidi men out of a bus and slaughtered them, according to a provincial official.
Labels: Al Qaeda in Iraq, al-Jazeera, Brig. Gen. Abdul Karim Khalaf, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, Qahtaniya, suicide trucks, Tal Uzair, Yezidis
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Information on Yezidis
Religion
Yezidis worship one God but no prophets. They recognize and respect both Jesus and Mohammed, but as men of faith, not prophets. Yezidi beliefs are a complicated mixture of Islamic and Zoroastrian beliefs, with Gnostic, Jewish, and Shamanistic elements. Worship centers around seven Angels (Malek is from the Arabic word for 'angel'), the most important of which is named Melek Taus, or the "Peacock Angel," also known as Lucifer.
Lucifer plays a different role in Yezidism, where he is considered the chief Archangel, and the creator of the material world. In Yezidi belief, Lucifer is not a fallen angel, or the enemy of God. They are forbidden from referring to him as Satan. The Yezidi have long been accused of "Devil worship" due to misunderstandings of their religious doctrine. In the Yezidi religion, Lucifer is a beneficient deity, long since reconciled with the Creator.
In this religion, God created Adam, but no Eve, and therefore all men came from Adam alone. The Yezidis were first born among all men, and consider themselves to be “the chosen people.” The Yezidis are strictly forbidden to marry outside the Yezidi, and must marry within their caste. While Kurds say the Yezidis are Kurds, the Yezidis claim to be neither Arab nor Kurd, simply Yezidis or, perhaps, Yezidi first and Kurd second.
The designation “Yezidi” applies to both a set of religious beliefs and a genetic or tribal identity. Because Yezidis keep to themselves, it is easy for others to misunderstand, or deliberately mis-project, the Yezidi religion. This can have dire consequences. One must now be born Yezidi, and converts are not accepted. There is no specific Yezidi Holy text, but important information about Yezidi practices is contained in the Mes'haf i Resh, or "black book", and the Jilwa, or "book of revelation." The Yezidi religion places taboos on the eating of fish or the meat of gazelles; the wearing of blue clothing is forbidden. Many Yazidi rituals center on Sheik Adi, a Sufi Arab who lived in northern Iraq in the 12th century and is considered the religion's chief saint. Pilgrims hold festivals near his tomb, north of Mosul.
Yazidis are primarily ethnic Kurds, and most live in Sinjar district, 120 km to the northwest of Mosul. Some 100,000 - 350,000 (estimates vary) Yazidis are living in villages around Mosul, 405 km north of Baghdad. There are smaller communities in Armenia (some 40,000 according to 2001 census), Georgia, Iran, Russia (31,273 as per 2002 census), Syria, and Turkey (some 80,000 in 1970; 23,000 in 1985 and 377 people in 2007). They number around 500,000 individuals in total, but estimates vary on their population size, partially due to the Yazidi tradition of secrecy when asked about one's religious beliefs.
Labels: Jilwa, Melek Taus, Mes'haf i Resh, Mosul, Peacock Angel, Sheik Adi, Yezidis
Yezidis targeted in simultaneous suicide bombings, 175 dead
Security
(Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Wednesday al Qaeda was the "prime suspect" in suicide bombings overnight on an ancient minority sect that Iraqi officials said killed more than 175 people in northern Iraq. Rescue workers searched for bodies in the rubble of dozens of buildings destroyed in up to five simultaneous car bomb attacks.
The attackers, driving fuel tankers, struck densely populated residential areas west of the city of Mosul that are home to members of the Yazidi sect, whose followers are considered infidels by Sunni Islamist militant groups. The fuel tanker attacks occurred about 8pm local time [1700 GMT]. The U.S. military said it was too early to say who was responsible, but the scale and apparently coordinated nature meant the attack carried the hallmarks of Sunni Islamist al Qaeda. The United States has condemned the attack as barbaric.
In the aftermath of the blast, authorities imposed a total curfew in the Sinjar area, which is close to the Syrian border where the U.S. military has been battling al Qaeda in Iraq. It's also one of the transit points for fighters coming into the country from Syria. Sinjar district mayor Dakheel Qassim Hasoun said only people and vehicles involved in rescue efforts would be allowed to move through the area. He said it would be impossible to establish a final death toll any time soon because many bodies were still buried in the rubble of up to 30 houses destroyed in the blasts.
Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Donnelly, U.S. military spokesman for northern Iraq, said U.S. forces were assisting Iraqi emergency agencies as they sifted through the rubble and were providing logistical, security and medical support. Iraqi army captain Mohammad al-Jaad put the death from the attack by at least three suicide bombers driving fuel tankers at 175, with 200 wounded. Hasoun said the death toll could go as high as 200. Dhakil Qassim, a mayor in the town of Sinjar near the attacks who blamed Al Qaida in Iraq, said four trucks approached Qahataniya from dirt roads and they all explodedwithin minutes of each other.
Iraqi authorities said the death toll was so high because most of the destroyed houses, all tightly packed in three Yazidi residential compounds, were made of mud that were shattered by the force of the attack. "It is going to be difficult to get a full death toll because of the nature of the buildings," Garver said.
The U.S. military said five vehicle-borne bombs had been detonated in Yazidi residential compounds in the villages of Kahtaniya and al-Jazeera. Jaad said the village of Tal Uzair was also hit. The Islamic State in Iraq, an Al Qaida front group, distributed leaflets a week ago warning residents near the scene of Tuesday's bombings that an attack was imminent because Yazidis are "anti-Islamic."
Yazidis are members of a pre-Islamic Kurdish sect who live in northern Iraq and Syria. Sunni militants have targeted Yazidis in recent months by kidnapping and killing them. Yazidis in Iraq say they have often faced discrimination because Melek Taus, the chief angel they venerate as a manifestation of God is often identified as the fallen angel Satan in biblical terminology.
Some members stoned a Yazidi teenager to death in April. She had converted to Islam and fled her family with a Muslim boyfriend. Police said 18-year-old Duaa Khalil Aswad was killed by relatives who disapproved of the match. The incident appears to have sparked an increase in attacks on Yazidis. The bodies of two Yazidi men who had been stoned to death were also found in the northern city of Kirkuk on Tuesday, police said.
The attackers, driving fuel tankers, struck densely populated residential areas west of the city of Mosul that are home to members of the Yazidi sect, whose followers are considered infidels by Sunni Islamist militant groups. The fuel tanker attacks occurred about 8pm local time [1700 GMT]. The U.S. military said it was too early to say who was responsible, but the scale and apparently coordinated nature meant the attack carried the hallmarks of Sunni Islamist al Qaeda. The United States has condemned the attack as barbaric.
In the aftermath of the blast, authorities imposed a total curfew in the Sinjar area, which is close to the Syrian border where the U.S. military has been battling al Qaeda in Iraq. It's also one of the transit points for fighters coming into the country from Syria. Sinjar district mayor Dakheel Qassim Hasoun said only people and vehicles involved in rescue efforts would be allowed to move through the area. He said it would be impossible to establish a final death toll any time soon because many bodies were still buried in the rubble of up to 30 houses destroyed in the blasts.
Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Donnelly, U.S. military spokesman for northern Iraq, said U.S. forces were assisting Iraqi emergency agencies as they sifted through the rubble and were providing logistical, security and medical support. Iraqi army captain Mohammad al-Jaad put the death from the attack by at least three suicide bombers driving fuel tankers at 175, with 200 wounded. Hasoun said the death toll could go as high as 200. Dhakil Qassim, a mayor in the town of Sinjar near the attacks who blamed Al Qaida in Iraq, said four trucks approached Qahataniya from dirt roads and they all explodedwithin minutes of each other.
Iraqi authorities said the death toll was so high because most of the destroyed houses, all tightly packed in three Yazidi residential compounds, were made of mud that were shattered by the force of the attack. "It is going to be difficult to get a full death toll because of the nature of the buildings," Garver said.
The U.S. military said five vehicle-borne bombs had been detonated in Yazidi residential compounds in the villages of Kahtaniya and al-Jazeera. Jaad said the village of Tal Uzair was also hit. The Islamic State in Iraq, an Al Qaida front group, distributed leaflets a week ago warning residents near the scene of Tuesday's bombings that an attack was imminent because Yazidis are "anti-Islamic."
Yazidis are members of a pre-Islamic Kurdish sect who live in northern Iraq and Syria. Sunni militants have targeted Yazidis in recent months by kidnapping and killing them. Yazidis in Iraq say they have often faced discrimination because Melek Taus, the chief angel they venerate as a manifestation of God is often identified as the fallen angel Satan in biblical terminology.
Some members stoned a Yazidi teenager to death in April. She had converted to Islam and fled her family with a Muslim boyfriend. Police said 18-year-old Duaa Khalil Aswad was killed by relatives who disapproved of the match. The incident appears to have sparked an increase in attacks on Yazidis. The bodies of two Yazidi men who had been stoned to death were also found in the northern city of Kirkuk on Tuesday, police said.
Labels: Al Qaeda in Iraq, al-Jazeera, Duaa Khalil Aswad, fuel tankers, Islamic State in Iraq, Kahtaniya, Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Donnelly, Melek Taus, Qahataniya, Sinjar, suicide bombings, Tal Uzair, Yezidis
Monday, July 02, 2007
Al Qaeda show of force in Mosul
Insurgency
(Azzaman) - Hundreds of Qaeda-linked fighters drove into the streets of the northern city of Mosul, brandishing their weapons and shouting Islamic slogans. The parade, early this week, was a show of force that the group did not fear the presence of the lightly armed and terror-stricken Iraqi police officers and paid little attention to U.S. marines camped outside the city.
Mosul has turned into one of the most violent cities in Iraq with the Qaeda fighters imposing their strict interpretation of Islamic jurisdiction by force. The city is being emptied of its once thriving Christian community following the murder of two priests and several deacons. Many churches, whose spires dot the city’s skyline, are deserted. Other minorities like the Shebeks, who are Shiites, and Yazidis, are also being targeted
Qaeda’s influence in Mosul, which many see as the country’s second largest after Baghdad, has grown tremendously since the start of the U.S. military campaign to subdue Baghdad more than four months ago. Mosul, the capital of Nineveh Province, was a mosaic of faiths, sects and nationalities. That fascinating feature has been eroding since the 2003 U.S. invasion.
A predominantly Sunni city, Mosul is now a major stronghold of anti-U.S. resistance but the surge of Qaeda has unnerved many in the city, including Sunni Muslims. With the U.S. troops and Iraqi forces engaged in pitched battles with Qaeda in Baghdad, Diyala and Ramadi, there is little for the government to do to regain some semblance of control in the city.
The government has even lost control of the predominantly Shiite city of Basra in the south. It may not be difficult for U.S. troops to move into Qaeda-controlled areas but it is apparently impossible for them to hold the ground they have retaken for long. Iraqi troops are no match to Qaeda and once they are deployed in areas cleared by Americans, the only way for the troops to survive is to come to some form of agreement with the rebels. The U.S. does not have enough troops to subdue the whole country permanently and Iraqi forces are ill prepared for the job.
Mosul has turned into one of the most violent cities in Iraq with the Qaeda fighters imposing their strict interpretation of Islamic jurisdiction by force. The city is being emptied of its once thriving Christian community following the murder of two priests and several deacons. Many churches, whose spires dot the city’s skyline, are deserted. Other minorities like the Shebeks, who are Shiites, and Yazidis, are also being targeted
Qaeda’s influence in Mosul, which many see as the country’s second largest after Baghdad, has grown tremendously since the start of the U.S. military campaign to subdue Baghdad more than four months ago. Mosul, the capital of Nineveh Province, was a mosaic of faiths, sects and nationalities. That fascinating feature has been eroding since the 2003 U.S. invasion.
A predominantly Sunni city, Mosul is now a major stronghold of anti-U.S. resistance but the surge of Qaeda has unnerved many in the city, including Sunni Muslims. With the U.S. troops and Iraqi forces engaged in pitched battles with Qaeda in Baghdad, Diyala and Ramadi, there is little for the government to do to regain some semblance of control in the city.
The government has even lost control of the predominantly Shiite city of Basra in the south. It may not be difficult for U.S. troops to move into Qaeda-controlled areas but it is apparently impossible for them to hold the ground they have retaken for long. Iraqi troops are no match to Qaeda and once they are deployed in areas cleared by Americans, the only way for the troops to survive is to come to some form of agreement with the rebels. The U.S. does not have enough troops to subdue the whole country permanently and Iraqi forces are ill prepared for the job.
The heavy presence of Qaeda in Mosul is threatening the relative quiet of several towns and regions in northern Iraq. Violence has spread to several Christian districts in the Province. Authorities in the so far peaceful Kurdish cities of Arbil and Dahouk, which border Nineveh Province, are concerned about the fallout of Qaeda’s influence in Mosul.
Labels: Al Qaeda, Christians, Mosul, Shebeks, Yezidis
Monday, May 21, 2007
Arests made in connection with honor killing of Yezidi girl
Crime
(Al Jazeera) - Iraqi authorities are reported to have arrested four people in connection with the death by stoning of a Kurdish teenager, which was filmed and posted on the internet. Two of those arrested in Nineveh province, in northern Iraq are said to be members of the girl's immediate family, said reports on Saturday. Du'a Khalil Aswad, who was 17-years-old, was stoned to death on April 7, allegedly by members of her family during an "honour killing", according to local officials. She was dragged half-naked into the street where a crowd gathered and a number of people filmed her death on mobile phones. Footage of Aswad's death was later posted on the internet, where the videos showed what appeared to be uniformed members of a security force among the crowd.
Authorities have said Aswad was attacked and killed because members of her community believed she had run off to marry a Sunni Muslim man. Aswad was a member of the Yazidi sect, a religious group, incorporating a number of ancient beliefs that does not allow marriage outside the faith.
"They [the crowd] brutally killed a young Yazidi girl in pursuit of out-of-date tribal rites," the AFP news agency quoted Tahsin Saeed Ali, the Yazidi religious leader known as the emir of the Yazidis in Iraq as saying. The Kurdish Regional Government later condemned the killing and called for Aswad's killers to be brought to justice.
CNN and the Malaysia Sun reported the arrests, with CNN quoting local officials as saying they were looking for four more suspects, including one of Aswad's cousins. Amnesty International, the human rights group, said it welcomed the Kurdish government's condmenation of the killing. A spokesmen said Amnesty had requested "concrete measures to protect all those at risk of becoming victims of 'honour crimes".
Authorities have said Aswad was attacked and killed because members of her community believed she had run off to marry a Sunni Muslim man. Aswad was a member of the Yazidi sect, a religious group, incorporating a number of ancient beliefs that does not allow marriage outside the faith.
"They [the crowd] brutally killed a young Yazidi girl in pursuit of out-of-date tribal rites," the AFP news agency quoted Tahsin Saeed Ali, the Yazidi religious leader known as the emir of the Yazidis in Iraq as saying. The Kurdish Regional Government later condemned the killing and called for Aswad's killers to be brought to justice.
CNN and the Malaysia Sun reported the arrests, with CNN quoting local officials as saying they were looking for four more suspects, including one of Aswad's cousins. Amnesty International, the human rights group, said it welcomed the Kurdish government's condmenation of the killing. A spokesmen said Amnesty had requested "concrete measures to protect all those at risk of becoming victims of 'honour crimes".
Labels: arrests, Du'a Khalil Aswad, emir of the Yazidis, honour killings, Tahsin Saeed Ali, Yezidis
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Muslim Scholars Association blames Shiite death squads for deaths of Yazidis
Security, Politics
(RFE/RL) - The Muslim Scholars Association issued a statement on its website on April 23 blaming Shi'ite death squads for the killing of 23 members of the Yazidi religious minority in Mosul on April 22. "While condemning this horrendous crime, the Muslim Scholars Association draws attention of all our sons in Iraq, and in the city of Mosul in particular, to the fact that these crimes were committed by the death squads that operate under the supervision of the occupiers and their agents, the militia leaders. The aim is to fuel religious and ethnic strife based on a plan specifically drawn up for this purpose," the statement said.
Local police officials said unknown gunmen stopped a bus carrying workers back from a textile factory near Mosul, separated the Yazidis from the others, and killed them execution-style on the side of the road. Yazidis are ethnic Kurds who practice a syncretistic pre-Islamic religion that worships an archangel figure named Malak Taus, often represented as a peacock. Some Muslims and Christians consider Malak Taus to be the devil. There are an estimated 500,000 Yazidis remaining in Iraq.
Labels: Mosul, Muslim Scholars Association, Shiite death squads, Yezidis
Monday, April 23, 2007
23 Yazidis kidnapped and executed
Security
(AINA) - AP) -- Gunmen in northern Iraq stopped a bus filled with Christians and Yezidis, separating out the groups and taking 23 of the passengers away to be shot. Armed men in several cars stopped the bus Sunday afternoon as it was carrying workers from the Mosul Textile Factory to their hometown of Bashika, which has a mixed population of Christians and Yazidis -- a primarily Kurdish sect that worships an angel considered to be the devil by some Muslims and Christians.
The gunmen checked passengers' identification cards, then asked all Christians to get off the bus, said police Brig. Mohammed al-Wagga. With the Yazidis still inside, the gunmen drove them to eastern Mosul, where they were lined up along a wall and shot to death, al-Wagga said. Yazidis are concentrated mostly around the northern city of Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad.
After the killings, hundreds of Yazidis took to the streets of Bashika. Shops were shuttered and many Muslim residents closed themselves in their homes, fearing reprisal attacks. Police set up additional checkpoints across the city.
The gunmen checked passengers' identification cards, then asked all Christians to get off the bus, said police Brig. Mohammed al-Wagga. With the Yazidis still inside, the gunmen drove them to eastern Mosul, where they were lined up along a wall and shot to death, al-Wagga said. Yazidis are concentrated mostly around the northern city of Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad.
After the killings, hundreds of Yazidis took to the streets of Bashika. Shops were shuttered and many Muslim residents closed themselves in their homes, fearing reprisal attacks. Police set up additional checkpoints across the city.
COMMENT: Police and residents of Bashiqa, where most of the victims lived, linked the attack to the stoning death there this month of a Yazidi woman. She was slain by fellow Yazidis angry over her conversion to Islam and love affair with a Sunni man. In February, Yazidis in Bashiqa went into hiding after mobs of Sunni Kurds attacked businesses and homes there in anger over a Muslim woman's association with two Yazidi men.
The Yezidi Faith: Yezidis worship one God but no prophets. They recognize and respect both Jesus and Mohammed, but as men of faith, not prophets. Yezidi beliefs are a complicated mixture of Islamic and Zoroastrian beliefs, with Gnostic, Jewish, and Shamanistic elements. Worship centers around seven Angels (Malek is from the Arabic word for 'angel'), the most important of which is named Melek Taus, or the "Peacock Angel," also known as Lucifer.
Lucifer plays a different role in Yezidism, where he is considered the chief Archangel, and the creator of the material world. In Yezidi belief, Lucifer is not a fallen angel, or the enemy of God. They are forbidden from referring to him as Satan. The Yezidi have long been accused of "Devil worship" due to misunderstandings of their religious doctrine. In the Yezidi religion, Lucifer is a beneficient deity, long since reconciled with the Creator.
In this religion, God created Adam, but no Eve, and therefore all men came from Adam alone. The Yezidis were first born among all men, and consider themselves to be “the chosen people.” The Yezidis are strictly forbidden to marry outside the Yezidi, and must marry within their caste. While Kurds say the Yezidis are Kurds, the Yezidis claim to be neither Arab nor Kurd, simply Yezidis or, perhaps, Yezidi first and Kurd second.
The designation “Yezidi” applies to both a set of religious beliefs and a genetic or tribal identity. Because Yezidis keep to themselves, it is easy for others to misunderstand, or deliberately mis-project, the Yezidi religion. This can have dire consequences.
One must now be born Yezidi, and converts are not accepted. There is no specific Yezidi Holy text, but important information about Yezidi practices is contained in the Mes'haf i Resh, or "black book", and the Jilwa, or "book of revelation." The Yezidi religion places taboos on the eating of fish or the meat of gazelles; the wearing of blue clothing is forbidden.
COMMENT ENDS.
One must now be born Yezidi, and converts are not accepted. There is no specific Yezidi Holy text, but important information about Yezidi practices is contained in the Mes'haf i Resh, or "black book", and the Jilwa, or "book of revelation." The Yezidi religion places taboos on the eating of fish or the meat of gazelles; the wearing of blue clothing is forbidden.
COMMENT ENDS.
Labels: abduction, Bashika, Christians, execution, gunmen, Iraq, Mosul, Yezidis
