Salwa Jabr Saihoud wanted to grant her father’s dying wish that she accompany his body on its journey to burial in Najaf. It mattered little to her that the road to the Shiite holy city is one of the most dangerous in Iraq. The journey ended in horror. Two of her brothers, three other close relatives and a family friend were kidnapped en route to Najaf. Their bodies were later found with gunshot wounds. Her father’s body, in a rickety wooden coffin, was tossed into a river. It was all the work of Sunni Arab insurgents. What is unusual about the Saihoud family’s case is the irreverence for the dead. Arab tradition still heeds ancient codes prescribing respect for the dead and for a family’s grief. Full Story
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