For Kurdish Girls, a Painful Ancient Ritual

The Widespread Practice of Female Circumcision in Iraq's North Highlights The Plight of Women in a Region Often Seen as More Socially Progressive. Launch Photo Gallery

Sheelan Anwar Omer, a shy 7-year-old Kurdish girl, bounded into her neighbor's house with an ear-to-ear smile, looking for the party her mother had promised.

There was no celebration. Instead, a local woman quickly locked a rusty red door behind Sheelan, who looked bewildered when her mother ordered the girl to remove her underpants. Sheelan began to whimper, then tremble, while the women pushed apart her legs and a midwife raised a stainless-steel razor blade in the air. "I do this in the name of Allah!" she intoned.

As the midwife sliced off part of Sheelan's genitals, the girl let out a high-pitched wail heard throughout the neighborhood. As she carried the sobbing child back home, Sheelan's mother smiled with pride.

Read more at: washingtonpost.com

Mandaean woman in Iraq

(Photo by AFP/Getty Images)

A Mandaean woman is seen as they attend a ritual on the banks of the Tigris River in Baghdad on September 21 2008. Baptism is the central sacrament of Mandaean religious life, revering several Old Testament characters especially John the Baptist. Since the invasion of Iraq by the US-led forces the 100,000-strong sect has depleted to 5000, with most fleeing the country. The Mandaeans have practiced their Gnostic religion for generations along the banks of the Tigris after they were driven out of Jordan and settled in southern and central Iraq around AD 67.

Iraqi Suicide Bomber Girl Chooses Life Over Blowing up (August 2008)

26th August 2008
"Tears streaming down her face, she is confronted by police - a teenage girl apparently planning to blow herself up in front of an Iraqi school. The officers handcuffed her to a metal balustrade before moving in with extreme caution to uncover a vest full of explosives hidden under her colourful robe. The dramatic scenes were captured on a video shot by the police.

The girl - thought to be around 15 years old - later said that she was given the bomb and told to wait outside the school for further instructions. In the footage, she denies trying to stage a suicide attack, and appears dazed, even drugged. She gave her first name as Rania and said she was born in 1993. Her exchange with the police offered a rare glimpse at a teenager allegedly recruited by insurgents. However, it was not clear to what extent her answers were given out of fear - of the police, or even of her own family.

Police in Baqouba, where the girl was caught on Sunday, said she was fitted with the vest by female relatives of her husband, whom she married five months ago. They also claimed that the girl's father was a suicide bomber, and her mother and one of her sisters were later arrested. However, U.S. sources said that the girl turned herself in after being hooked up to the explosives against her will. The police footage begins with Rania standing on the street. Her arms are already behind her back, where they have apparently been tied by an officer in an attempt to restrain her. A policeman is shown opening her robe, and later frames show her wearing what appears to be a suicide vest, containing about 33lb of explosives."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1049021/Pictured-The-dramatic-moment-15-year-old-Iraqi-suicide-bomber-gave-up.html