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Yazidis are furthermore organized in tribes, with a chief (Agha) at the head of each. Yazidis<br />
are usually monogamous, but chiefs may have more than one wife.<br />
ii) Situation of Yazidis in Central Iraq<br />
The situation of Yazidis in the Ninewa Governorate and other areas under the<br />
administration of the Central Government has deteriorated since the fall of the former<br />
regime, due to high levels of insurgent activities and ethnic/religious tensions. Targeted<br />
attacks against Yazidis include threats, assassinations and public defamation campaigns. As<br />
they are considered “infidels” (or even apostates) and of Kurdish ethnicity, 370 Yazidis have<br />
been targeted by Sunni extremists present in Baghdad and towns like Sinjar, Mosul and Tel<br />
Afar. 371 Most attacks against Yazidis are not reported in the international and national<br />
media or are portrayed as incidents involving Kurds. 372 UNAMI reported that in late<br />
December 2006, a Yazidi was murdered in Mosul; according to the police simply on the<br />
basis of his religious affiliation. 373 Mir Tahsin Saied Beg survived a bombing in Al-Qosh<br />
on 17 December 2004. Reportedly, the Mir and other prominent figures avoid public<br />
appearances for security reasons. 374<br />
Insurgent groups have also targeted Yazidis for their (perceived) support for the US-led<br />
invasion and the presence of the MNF, considering them collaborators. 375 For example,<br />
Marwan Khalil Murad, who worked as a project director for international aid organizations,<br />
was reportedly shot and wounded after he had hosted 20 Americans in his home in<br />
Sinjar. 376 Others have been targeted for their political activities and support for the political<br />
process. 377 For example, the Mayor of Sinjar, a Yazidi, has been subjected to attacks in<br />
2004 and 2005. In July 2005, a bodyguard of Dr. Mamou Othman, then Minister of State<br />
for Civil Society in Iraq and the only Yazidi cabinet member, was targeted and killed. 378<br />
Other prominent persons of the community have also been threatened. For example, Yazidi<br />
doctor Abd Al-Aziz Suleiman Siwu, the head of the branch office for the Lalish cultural<br />
centre in Bashika and Bahzani received a threat letter in January 2004 signed by Ansar Al-<br />
Islam. It accused him of collaborating with the Americans, Zionists and the Patriotic Union<br />
370<br />
See also “Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen428F, Ethnic-Based Christian Groups (Assyrians, Chaldeans,<br />
Armenians)429F, Yazidis430F and Shabak431F in Ethnically Mixed Areas” and “Kurds and Other Segments<br />
of Iraqi Society”.<br />
371<br />
See: AP, Beleaguered Yazidi find peace high in Iraq’s northern mountains, 14 October 2006,<br />
http://www.todayonline.com/articles/148550.asp. See also: Savelsberg and Hajo, p. 3 and 6, see above<br />
footnote 354.<br />
372<br />
Savelsberg and Hajo, p. 2, see above footnote 354.<br />
373<br />
UNAMI HRO, December 2006 Human Rights Report, p. 14, see above footnote 10. Other incidents cited<br />
by Savelsberg and Hajo, see above footnote 354.<br />
374<br />
Savelsberg and Hajo, p. 4, see above footnote 354.<br />
375<br />
See Laurence F.Kaplan, Devil’s Advocates, The New Republic, 6 November 2006, http://www.tnr.com/<br />
doc.mhtml?i=20061106&s=diarist110606. See also “Actual or Perceived Sympathizers of the US-Led<br />
Invasion and/or the Multi-National Force in Iraq”.<br />
376<br />
AP, see above footnote 371.<br />
377<br />
See also “Government Officials and Other Persons Associated With the Current Iraqi Government,<br />
Administration and Institutions”.<br />
378<br />
Dulz, Hajo and Savelsberg, p. 4, see above footnote 359.<br />
79