Murderers without honour
Afif Sarhan, Basra & Caroline Davies; 7/6/08
Leila Hussein lived her last few weeks in terror. Moving constantly from safe house to safe house, she dared to stay no longer than four days at each. It was the price she was forced to pay after denouncing and divorcing her husband, the man she witnessed suffocate, stamp on, then stab their young daughter Rand in a brutal honour killing for which he had shown no remorse. Though she feared reprisals for speaking out, she really believed that she would soon be safe. Arrangements were well under way to smuggle her to the Jordanian capital, Amman. In fact, she was on her way to meet the person who would help her escape when a car drew up alongside her and two other women who were walking her to a taxi. Five bullets were fired: three of them hit Leila, 41. She died in hospital after futile attempts to save her. Her death, on May 17, is the shocking denouement to a tragedy that had its origins in an innocent friendship between her student daughter, Rand Abdel-Qader, 17, and a blond, 22-year-old British soldier publicly known only as Paul. The two had met while Rand, an English student at Basra University, was working as a volunteer helping displaced families and he was distributing water.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23821492-15084,00.html
Tags: Human Rights, Jordan, Religion, Womens Rights