Teenage Iraqi girl who fell in love with BRITISH soldier in Basra is murdered by her own father in honour killing
Last updated at 19:07pm on 27.04.08
Rand Abdel-Qader, 17, was killed by her father after falling in love with a British soldier
A teenage Iraqi girl who fell in love with a British soldier when he was in Basra was murdered by her father in an "honour killing", it was revealed today.
Rand Abdel-Qader, 17, was suffocated and then hacked at with a knife after her family discovered she was friends with the 22-year-old soldier who she knew only as Paul.
The pair first met when Rand was working on an aid project for displaced families but it is thought the soldier is unaware of the girl's fate.
She was stamped on, suffocated and stabbed - leaving her with puncture wounds all over her body, including her face.
Her own mother, Leila Hussein, has spoken out about the crime, revealing how her husband called out that he was cleansing "his honour" as he carried out the murder.
She told the Observer he was arrested after the brutal murder but was released without charge two hours later because it was an "honour killing".
"He was released two hours later because it was an 'honour killing'. And unfortunately that is something to be proud of for any Iraqi man," she told the paper.
Her funeral was done without any of the traditional mourning because she was deemed 'impure'. Her uncles were said to have spat on her body
Rand claimed she was in love from the first moment she met the soldier, who had been working alongside her on an aid project where she was volunteering.
She immediately told her best friend she was dreaming they could have a future together.
Five months on, she was brutally killed and buried without the traditional mourning ceremony in a mark of her "impurity".
Her uncles are also said to have spat on her body because of the shame they felt she had brought on the family.
The fact her relationship with the British soldier she knew as Paul was entirely innocent was not enough to save her.
The teenager's best friend had tried to hide the presents she was given by the soldier but a friend told her father after he saw the pair together
According to the Observer, she was seen conversing intimately with him and because he was a British "invader" and the enemy, this could not be tolerated.
The pair last saw each other in January but her father, Abdel Qader Ali did not learn of their friendship until two months later on March 16.
He was told by a friend that his daughter had been seen with the soldier and stormed home to confront her.
Ms Hussein described to the paper how he was in a complete rage and trembled as he asked Rand if the story was true, before starting to hit her repeatedly.
She said: "She started to cry, she was nervous. He got hold of her hair and started thumping her again and again.
"I screamed and called out for her two brothers so they could get their father away from her. But when he told them the reason, instead of saving her they helped end her life."
Qader Ali had used his own feet to press down on Rand's throat until she stopped breathing before cutting at her body with a knife, she said.
Sgt Ali Jabbar of Basra police said: "Not much can be done when we have an 'honour killing'. You are in a Muslim society and women should live under religious laws."
Ms Hussein has now divorced her husband and is in hiding under the care of a charity for fear of reprisals from his family for speaking out.
A charity spokeswoman said: "She has been threatened by her husband's family and is very scared."
The Ministry of Defence is thought to be trying to track down the soldier, who is believed to have no idea his friendship with Rand might have put her at risk.
There is no official policy on advising troops how to behave with Iraqi women when they are deployed to the country.
An MoD spokeswoman said: "They are not told: don't go and fall in love."
The murder is believed to be the first "honour killing" in the war-torn country involving a British soldier.
But there were 47 such killing of young women in Basra alone last year and just three convictions, according to the city's Security Committee.
Teenage Iraqi girl who fell in love with BRITISH soldier in Basra is murdered by her own father in honour killing| News | This is London
Teenage Iraqi girl who fell in love with BRITISH soldier in Basra is murdered
