honour killing in iraq

I know its not for anybody to judge another culture but i dont want 1 more single aussie or american life wasted on these people.
Girl's love incites 'honour killing'Article from: Font size: Decrease Increase Email article: Email Print article: Print By Matthew Hickley in London

April 29, 2008 04:43am

AN Iraqi girl, 17, was murdered by her father in an "honour killing" after she fell in love with a British soldier in Basra.

Rand Abdel-Qader told her best friend she had fallen for Paul, 22, who she met at a charity for displaced families where she was a volunteer.

When her father learned she had been seen speaking to a foreigner he rushed home and butchered her, strangling and stabbing her while screaming that he was "cleansing his honour".

He was arrested, but Iraqi police took no action. His wife has since left him and is in hiding.

The Ministry of Defence was trying to trace the soldier.

There is no suggestion of any physical relationship, but the case raises questions about the training of British forces. In Basra, 47 women died in "honour killings" last year.

The infantryman last saw Rand in January, a few weeks before her murder.

Rand told her friend Zeinab that she fell in love the moment she saw him and dreamed of a life with him.

Rand was studying English at Basra University and could chat to him without others knowing what they were saying.

Zeinab, 19, said: "She loved to speak about him. He was very different from the local men, who usually are tough and illiterate.

"But I always had to remind Rand that she was a Muslim and her family was never going to accept her marrying a Christian, British soldier.

"Unfortunately, she never wanted to hear me.

"She told me he called her 'princess'. She never did anything more than talk to him. She was proud to be a virgin."

On March 16, Rand's father, Abdel-Qader Ali, heard that his daughter had been seen speaking to the soldier.

Rand's mother, Leila Hussein, said: "I screamed and called out for her two brothers. But when he told them the reason, instead of saving her they helped him end her life."

Ali stood on Rand's throat till she suffocated, then stabbed her, shouting that his honour was being cleansed.

He was arrested and released within two hours.

Sgt Ali Jabbar of Basra police said: "The father has very good contacts in the Basra government."

Because her family considered her impure, Rand was given only a simple burial and her uncles spat in her grave to show their disgust.

Two weeks later, Rand's mother demanded a divorce and now campaigns against "honour killings".

She lives in fear: "No man can accept being left by a woman in Iraq."

Zeinab said: "Rand was just a young girl with romantic dreams. She would never even hurt a petal on a rose."