My daughter deserved to die for falling
in love'
Two weeks ago, The Observer revealed
how 17-year-old student Rand Abdel-
Qader was beaten to death by her
father after becoming infatuated with a
British soldier in Basra. In this
remarkable interview, Abdel-Qader Ali
explains why he is unrepentant - and
how police backed his actions. Afif
Sarhan in Basra and Caroline Davies report
For Abdel-Qader Ali there is only one
regret: that he did not kill his daughter
at birth. '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.
Two weeks after The Observer revealed
the shocking story of Rand Abdel-Qader,
17, murdered because of her infatuation
with a British soldier in Basra, southern
Iraq, her father is defiant. Sitting in the
front garden of his well-kept home in
the city's Al-Fursi district, he remains a
free man,
despite having stamped on, suffocated
and then stabbed his student daughter
to death.
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.
Rand, who was studying English at Basra
University, was deemed to have brought
shame on her family after becoming
infatuated with a British soldier, 22,
known only as Paul.
She died a virgin, according to her closest
friend Zeinab. Indeed, her 'relationship'
with Paul, which began when she worked
as a volunteer helping displaced families
and he was distributing water, appears to
have consisted of snatched conversations
over less than four months. But the young,
impressionable Rand fell in love with him,
confiding her feelings and daydreams to
Zeinab, 19.
It was her first youthful infatuation and it
would be her last.
She died on 16 March after her father
discovered she had been seen in public
talking to Paul, considered to be the
enemy, the invader and a Christian.
Though her horrified mother, Leila
Hussein, called Rand's two brothers,
Hassan, 23, and Haydar, 21, to restrain
Abdel-Qader as he choked her with his
foot on her throat, they joined in. Her
shrouded corpse was then tossed into a
makeshift grave without ceremony as
her uncles spat on it in disgust.
'Death was the least she deserved,' said
Abdel-Qader. 'I don't regret it. I had the
support of all my friends who are
fathers, like me, and know what she did
was unacceptable to any Muslim that
honours his religion,' he said.
Sitting on a chair by his front door and
surrounded by the gerberas and white
daisies he had planted in the family
garden, Abel-Qader attempted to justify his
actions.
'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.
'I have only two boys from now on.
That girl was a mistake in my life. I know
God is blessing me for what I did
,' he said, his voice swelling with pride. 'My
sons are by my side, and they were men
enough to help me finish the life of
someone who just brought shame to
ours.'
Abdel-Qader, a Shia, says he was released
from the police station
'because everyone knows that honour
killings sometimes are impossible not to
commit'.
Chillingly, he said: 'The officers were by my
side during all the time I was there,
congratulating me on what I had done.'
It's a statement that, if true, provides an
insight into how vast the gulf remains
between cultures in Iraq and between the
Basra police the British army that trains
them.
Sources have indicated that Abdel-Qader,
who works in the health department, has
been asked to leave because of the bad
publicity, yet he will continue to draw a
salary.
And it has been alleged by one senior
unnamed official in the Basra governorate
that he has received financial support by a
local politician to enable him to 'disappear'
to Jordan for a few weeks, 'until the story
has been forgotten' - the usual practice in
the 30-plus cases of 'honour' killings that
have been registered since January alone.
Such treatment seems common in Basra,
where militias have partial control,
especially in the districts on the outskirts
where Abdel-Qader lives.
While government security forces and
British troops have control over the centre,
around the fringes militants can still be
seen everywhere on the streets or at the
checkpoints they have erected. And they
have imposed strict laws of behaviour for
all the local people, including what clothing
should be worn and what religious
practices should be observed. There are
reports of men having their hands cut off
for looting and women being killed for
prostitution.
Homosexuality is punishable by death, a
sentence Abdel-Qader approves of with a
passion. 'I have alerted my two sons. They
will have the same end [as Rand] if they
become contaminated with any gay
relationship. These crimes deserve death -
death in the name of God,' he said.
He said his daughter's 'bad genes were
passed on from her mother'. Rand's
mother, 41, remains in hiding after
divorcing her husband in the immediate
aftermath of the killing, living in fear of
retribution from his family.
She also still bears the scars of the severe
beating he inflicted on her, breaking her
arm in the process, when she told him she
was going. 'They cannot accept me leaving
him. When I first left I went to a cousin's
home, but every day they were delivering
notes to my door saying I was a prostitute
and deserved the same death as Rand,'
she said.
'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 was nervous, clearly terrified of being
found, and her eyes constantly turned
towards the window as she spoke. 'Rand
told me about the soldier, but she swore it
was just a friendship.
'She said she spoke with him because she
was the only English speaker. I raised her
in a religious manner and she never went
out alone until she joined the university
and then later when she was doing aid
work.
'Even now, I cannot believe my ex-
husband was able to kill our daughter. He
wasn't a bad person. During our 24 years
of marriage, he was never aggressive. But
on that day, he was a different person.'
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 organization
campaigning for better protection for
women in Basra.
One of those running the organization,
who did not want to be identified, said
that Rand's case was similar to so many
reported in Basra, with the only difference
being she was in love with a foreigner,
rather than an Iraqi.
'There isn't too much to say. Rand is dead.
It is a tragedy and will be a tragedy for
many other families in Iraq in the days to
come.
'According to information we have been
given, some from Rand's colleague, we
have doubts that her love was
reciprocated. We have the impression that
Rand was in love, but the English soldier
wasn't. But, for a girl to be paid nice
compliments about her beauty and her
intelligence, it was enough for her to think
she was in love.
'She isn't here any more for her mother to
ask any of the questions she would like to.
Rand's case had repercussions because
she fell in love with a foreigner. But what
about the other girls murdered through
"honour" killings because they fell in love
with some of a different sect, or lost their
virginity, or were forced to become
prostitutes?'
Rand's mother used to call her 'Rose'.
'That was my nickname for her because
when she was born she was so beautiful,'
she said.
'Now, my lovely Rose is in her grave. But,
God will make her father pay, either in this
world , or in the world after.'

No remorse whatsoever!!

Can't believe people are still doing sh!t like this. Unacceptable.

May she rest in peace. Amen.

I'm also a former muslim and I know that this is not the muslim way. Or is it?

He will pay a hefty price for his action. May her soul rest-in-peace. Shocking stuff!

May her soul rest in peace