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The Devil looks in on Iraq's parliament
11.8.2005
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BAGHDAD, Aug 10 (AFP)
- 16h02 - The Devil looked in on Iraq's parliament
Wednesday when an MP upbraided Prime Minister
Ibrahim Jaafari for speaking ill of Lucifer.
Kameran Khairi Said, a Kurdish MP and a member of
the minority Yezidi community which worships the
peacock angel, also known as Lucifer, angrily
interrupted the prime minister during a
parliamentary debate.
"Mr prime minister and ministers, my speaking out
might seem strange to you but we feel insulted when
you repeatedly use the expression in your speeches
and statements 'God protects us from the Devil'.
"Each time the word is pronounced, my colleagues
turn towards me as if I were a representative of the
Devil," he added amid guffaws from other MPs.
Yezidis follow a pre-Islamic religion, which some
believe was founded in the 12th century by Sheikh
Uday bin Masafel al-Amawi, although many scholars
trace its origins to the Zoroastrian religion of
ancient Persia.
Sheikh Uday was born in Damascus but died in the
town of Lalish, in northern Iraq, where his tomb has
become the Yezidis' holiest shrine.
The community is still largely based in the
foothills north of Iraq's main northern city of
Mosul and in the Sinjar mountains on the border with
Syria.
But followers of the faith can be found throughout
the Kurdish diaspora, in neighbouring Syria and
Turkey as well as the former Soviet republics of the
Caucasus, or in Germany and Britain.
"There are 600,000 to 700,000 Kurdish yezidis and
they feel insulted whenever you use that phrase and
we call on all those in a position of authority to
take account of this," Said said.
The Yezidis do not believe in heaven or hell, and do
not regard Satan as evil. In fact, they worship him
-- but dare not say his name.
Three of Iraq's 275 MPs belong to the sect whose
members do not marry outside the faith. There are
also two Yezedis in the 111-seat regional Kurdish
parliament.
Jaafari said he meant no harm in using the
expression, common among Muslims.
"When we use this expression it is not to insult you
or to provoke a minority," he said.
"Even if religions are different, all agree on the
need to respect one another, especially in this
forum where respect for others is essential. But one
must also respect the majority and the majority is
Muslim," he said.
AFP
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