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Iraqi Exile Speaks Out Against the Targeting of Gay Iraqis by Shia Death Squads
We speak with a gay Iraqi exile about the systematic targeting of gay Iraqis by Shiite death squads in Iraq. The attacks follow a death-to-gays fatwa issued by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani last October. We also speak with independent journalist Doug Ireland who broke the story.
As violence continues on a daily basis on Iraq, President Bush is continuing his media offensive this week. A town-style meeting in West Virginia Wednesday was his latest in five straight days of appearances. The president has repeatedly lauded what he calls the birth of freedom and democracy in Iraq after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's oppressive regime.
But yet another story out of the country paints a very different picture.
Shiite death squads in Iraq have been systematically targeting gay Iraqis for persecution and execution. The attacks follow a death-to-gays fatwa issued by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani last October. In a question and answer section of his website, Sistani says homosexuality is "forbidden" and calls for the killing of gays in the "worst, most severe way."
The story comes in this week's issue of Gay City News. It reports that the Badr Corps have heeded Sistani's call and have been targeting gay Iraqis. The Badr Corps is the military arm of the Iranian-backed Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, a powerful Shia group that is the largest political formation in Iraq's Shia community.
For more on the story we are joined by Ali Hili, a gay Muslim Iraqi living in exile in Britain. He fled Iraq two years ago. Five months ago he founded the Abu Nawas Group to support persecuted gay Iraqis. He joins us on the line from London. He does not want to expose his face as he has received several death threats. We are also joined by independent journalist Doug Ireland, who broke the story in Gay City News.
* Ali Hili, a gay Muslim Iraqi living in exile in Britain. He fled Iraq two years ago. Five months ago he founded the Abu Nawas Group to support persecuted gay Iraqis.
* Doug Ireland, a longtime radical political journalist and media critic. He has been a columnist for The Nation magazine, Village Voice, the New York Observer and the Paris daily Liberation. He is also a contributing editor of POZ, the monthly for the HIV-positive community. He maintains a blog at http://direland.typepad.com.
LISTEN ONLINE:
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/03/23/153203
But yet another story out of the country paints a very different picture.
Shiite death squads in Iraq have been systematically targeting gay Iraqis for persecution and execution. The attacks follow a death-to-gays fatwa issued by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani last October. In a question and answer section of his website, Sistani says homosexuality is "forbidden" and calls for the killing of gays in the "worst, most severe way."
The story comes in this week's issue of Gay City News. It reports that the Badr Corps have heeded Sistani's call and have been targeting gay Iraqis. The Badr Corps is the military arm of the Iranian-backed Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, a powerful Shia group that is the largest political formation in Iraq's Shia community.
For more on the story we are joined by Ali Hili, a gay Muslim Iraqi living in exile in Britain. He fled Iraq two years ago. Five months ago he founded the Abu Nawas Group to support persecuted gay Iraqis. He joins us on the line from London. He does not want to expose his face as he has received several death threats. We are also joined by independent journalist Doug Ireland, who broke the story in Gay City News.
* Ali Hili, a gay Muslim Iraqi living in exile in Britain. He fled Iraq two years ago. Five months ago he founded the Abu Nawas Group to support persecuted gay Iraqis.
* Doug Ireland, a longtime radical political journalist and media critic. He has been a columnist for The Nation magazine, Village Voice, the New York Observer and the Paris daily Liberation. He is also a contributing editor of POZ, the monthly for the HIV-positive community. He maintains a blog at http://direland.typepad.com.
LISTEN ONLINE:
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/03/23/153203
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