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Dear List, I am afraid the original article is completely misleading. The lady was seemingly explaining her situation and that of women in the Kurdish areas of North Iraq, as the article later reveals. What is happening there has nothing to do with the central government nor with Saddam Husseein... Iraq does not have honor killings nor has there ever been any stoning of adulterers. This is practiced in Saudi Arabia (the US strong ally) and Iran (the base for Baqir al-Hakim's SCIRI).. There was a time when honor killings were allowed, but that law was repealed shortly afterwards. Women in Iraq are among the most emancipated in the area and the highest educated. A woman receives the same salary as her male colleague for doing the same job, a thing which is still a luxury in Europe and the US... Iraq was among the first countries to grant a woman a full year maternity leave fully paid. Iraq had a female minister in 1959, when women in Switzerland were not even allowed to vote... Women entered the military already in the 1970s, long before some western countries... It should be mentioned here that Islam is very clear and strict about adultery and does not tolerate killings except in self defense. Thus to prove adultery, four honest men should see the actual act and testify to that. Otherwise, there is no case. Even if there is such eye-witness testimony, the punishment is flogging for both the man and women. Stoning is NOT part of Islam nor has it ever been. It used to be an old Jewish punishment before Islam which Islam rejected, but which was brought back into use by the second Caliph, Omar, and continued to be used, by both Shi'i and Sunni Muslims. But very few Muslim states have incorporated it in their laws, because it is not explicitly or implicitly stated in the Holy Qura'n. When the central administration in Iraq withdrew from the Kurdish north after the establishment of the flight exclusion zones, the area fell into lawlessness because of the traditional tribal conflicts and fighting over revenues and control. The North of Iraq is ruled by two big tribes (Talebani and Barzani), the communist pary, and some extremsit religious groups (Shi'i and Sunni). This encouraged the return to the old tribal systems long abolished, one of which seemingly is honor killings... I would like those members of this list (especially Kurds and supporters of al-Hakim and the bombing of Iraq) and who so often preach democracy and human rights in Iraq to tell us their views on the issue of the stoning of women, and how they intend to treat it in a "new liberated Iraq"... HZ _________________________________________________________ SPORTS SPORTS SPORTS! Hurry up and read the latest updates in the exciting world of sports. http://www.maktoob.com/ _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk