Posted by
Tony Sarrecchia on Sunday, May 11, 2008 10:15:38 AM
Abdel-Qader Ali is unrepentant. He killed his daughter and regrets that he didn't do it sooner.
If I had realised then what she would become, I would have killed her the instant her mother delivered her,' he said with no trace of remorse.
An article in Sunday's
Observer details how Abdel-Qader remains a free man "despite having stamped on, suffocated and stabbed" his 17 year old daughter to death.
From the article: 'Abdel-Qader, 46, a government employee, was initially arrested but released after two hours. Astonishingly, he said, police congratulated him on what he had done. 'They are men and know what honour is,' he said.
His daughter's crime? She fell in love with Paul, a British solider. The daughter, Rand, had been studying English at Basra University where she met Paul, the object of the only teenage crush she would have. Her father and brothers murdered her on March 16 after Abdel-Qader
discovered she had been seen in public talking to Paul, considered to be the enemy, the invader and a Christian.'
For committing such a slight, Abdel-Qader choked the life out of his daughter with the assistance of her two brothers.
''I don't have a daughter now, and I prefer to say that I never had one. That girl humiliated me in front of my family and friends. Speaking with a foreign solider, she lost what is the most precious thing for any woman. 'People from western countries might be shocked, but our girls are not like their daughters that can sleep with any man they want and sometimes even get pregnant without marrying. Our girls should respect their religion, their family and their bodies."
The Observer story goes on to say that: "Such treatment seems common in Basra, where militias have partial control, especially in the districts on the outskirts where Abdel-Qader lives."
Rand's mother does not share her husband's extremist beliefs.
'She was killed by animals. Every night when go to bed I remember the face of Rand calling for help while her father and brothers ended her life,' she said, tears streaming down her face. She, the mother, divorced Abdel-Qader immediately after the 'honor killing' and remains in hiding--fearful of her life.
"The mother is now trying to raise enough money to escape abroad. 'I miss my two boys,' she said. 'But they have sent a message saying that I am wrong for defending Rand and that I should go back home and live like a blessed Muslim woman,' said Leila, who is now volunteering with a local organisation campaigning for better protection for women in Basra."
Read the full article here