Iraq

Iraq: Temporary Marriages Boom in South

Samira Abdullah Shehim, a mother of three, could not believe her ears when she was approached by her late husband’s friend with a proposal she never imagined to hear one day. "He was offering me a temporary marriage in exchange for a good gold piece and some monthly income," the 32-year-old widow from the southern city of Najaf told IslamOnline.net. "He told me that it was going to be a marriage for pleasure and he could end it any time he wanted," she explained.

Irak: Les communautés minoritaires de Nineveh demandent à être protégées

Dans la province de Nineveh, dans le nord de l’Irak, les communautés minoritaires ont demandé à être protégées par les autorités locales et nationales, dans un contexte où l’on annonce un risque de multiplication des attaques à leur encontre durant la campagne des élections nationales de janvier. « En tant que Chrétiens, nous ressentons l’insécurité depuis l’invasion de 2003 [menée par les Etats-Unis], car nous sommes l’objet de déplacements, extorsions, enlèvements et assassinats commis par les différentes parties, pour des raisons d’agenda politique ou d’idéologies extrémistes », a dit Ihsan Matti, chauffeur de taxi de 33 ans habitant à Mossoul, la capitale de la province de Nineveh.

United States: Woman run over by father in 'honour killing'

A young Iraqi woman was run over by her father in a car in an alleged honour killing in the United States after her behaviour became "too Western", police said. Noor Faleh Almaleki, 20, whose family had moved to Phoenix, Arizona, was hit by her father's Jeep last month as she walked across a car park. She lay in a coma for two weeks in hospital before dying.

Arab World: Women on the Move: Trends & Countertrends

You can read and download the Political Islam on Line article by Raouf Ebeid here

Iraq: Killings of "feminized" men betray fear of women

The country's militias -- the same ones that spent years waging a sectarian civil war -- have found a new, less apparent target: men suspected of being gay.

Iraq: A Call to Iraqis and people internationally

Statement by the Ash Wednesday Forum for Civil Society Organizations.

Iraq: Report: "‘They Want Us Exterminated': Murder, Torture, Sexual Orientation and Gender in Iraq"

The report "‘They Want Us Exterminated': Murder, Torture, Sexual Orientation and Gender in Iraq", published by Human Rights Watch August 2009, documents a wide-reaching campaign of extrajudicial executions, kidnappings, and torture of gay men in Iraq.

Iraq: Christian community faces new wave of violence

A new wave of violence targeting Iraq's Christian community has raised questions about the safety of religious minorities amid concerns about Iraqi forces' ability to maintain security after the 30 June withdrawal of US combat forces.

Iraq: Draft law threat to independence of civil society

A hotly debated draft law to regulate the work of NGOs in Iraq will be discussed in parliament this month although its approval is not expected soon, a lawmaker told IRIN.

Iraq: Gay Murders Surge

As organized killings of Iraqi gays have escalated in recent months amid a homophobic campaign in that nation's media, openly gay Democratic Congressman Jared Polis of Colorado has asked the US State Department to investigate.