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Annex II: Attacks on Sabaean-Mandaean Representatives<br />
The following incidents were reported since 2003 (not comprehensive):<br />
• On 3 December 2006, militiamen broke into the house of Taleb Salman Uraibi,<br />
assistant to one of the Mandaean religious Sheikhs, in Hay Ur neighbourhood and<br />
abducted him. His body was found later that day with evidence of torture. 861<br />
Reportedly, his family was prevented from holding a funeral service for him by<br />
extremists who threatened to blow up their house. 862<br />
• On 11 October 2006, Sheikh Raad Mutar Saleh was shot dead by gunmen after they<br />
broke into his house in Al-Suwaira in the Governorate of Wassit. 863<br />
• On 5 July 2006, there was an attack on the life of Ganzebra 864 Sattar Jabbar Helou, the<br />
most senior Mandaean cleric and his brother, Tarmida Karim Jabbar Helou, also a<br />
cleric. Under the eyes of the ISF, the Sheikh was dragged out of his car and abducted in<br />
Baghdad. Thanks to the intervention of a senior Iraqi official, Sheikh Sattar was<br />
released. 865 The Society for Threatened People further reported a failed attempt to<br />
kidnap Sheikh Sattar’s 17-years old son. 866<br />
• On 23 March 2005, an armed assault took place on the house of Adel Dishar Zamil, the<br />
head of the Sabaean-Mandaean community in Wassit Governorate. A threat calling him<br />
an infidel was written on his door. 867<br />
• On 16 January 2005, Riyadh Radhi Habib, President of the Mandaean Supreme<br />
Spiritual Council in Basrah, died after being shot more than 90 times by three gunmen<br />
reportedly demanding that he convert to Islam. 868<br />
• On 10 January 2005, an armed assault took place on the house of Salem Turfi Aziz, the<br />
community’s head in Kirkuk. 869<br />
• On 30 November 2004, Tarmida Saleem Ghada was ambushed at the Mandaean place<br />
of prayer on the Diyala River. The clergyman was leading prayers when he was shot<br />
seven times in the legs, severely wounding him. 870<br />
861 UNAMI HRO, December 2006 Human Rights Report, p. 14, see above footnote 10.<br />
862 Nina Shea, Testimony before The US Congressional Committee On International Relations,<br />
Subcommittee On Africa, Global Human Rights, And International Operations, Center For Religious<br />
Freedom, 21 December 2006, http://www.christiansofiraq.com/ninasheatestifiesdec216.html.<br />
863 Keith Roderick, The Unholy Month of Ramadan, National Review Online, 18 October 2006,<br />
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NGZhNmUwNjdmMDcwODhkNDMyMTQ2Y2UzYTFkMDQxNmY.<br />
864 The Sabaean-Mandaean priestly hierarchy is divided into three ranks: ordinary priests or Tarmida<br />
(disciples), Ganzebra (bishops or “treasurers”) and Rishama, (the head of the people). The only Rishama is<br />
Sheikh Abdullah Najem, who has been living in London for many years. The highest religious figure in Iraq<br />
is Ganzebra Sheikh Sattar Jabbar Helou; see Mandaean Society in America, A Brief Note on the Mandaeans:<br />
Their History, Religion and Mythology, http://mandaeanunion.org/History/EN_History_007.htm.<br />
865 The Sunday Telegraph, Persecution of a sect, 22 October 2006, http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/<br />
story/0,22049,20614857-5001031,00.html.<br />
866 Society for Threatened People, Mandäer im Iraq, p. 5, see above footnote 309.<br />
867 Ibidem, p. 20.<br />
868 USDOS, 2005 Country Report on Human Rights Practices – Iraq, see above footnote 333.<br />
869 Society for Threatened People, Mandäer im Iraq, p. 20, see above footnote 309.<br />
870 Information from the Sabian Mandaean Association of Australia; see Bolender, see above footnote 304.<br />
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