Iraqi Dad: Teen was a Qaeda suicide bomber
Associated Press 25 DEC 2010
By Bushra Juhi
BAGHDAD -- An Iraqi man told authorities he killed his 19-year-old daughter out of shame after he discovered that al Qaeda had recruited her as a suicide bomber, a police spokesman said yesterday.
Al Qaeda has been recruiting women for suicide attacks because they can pass police checkpoints more easily than men by concealing explosives under an abaya, a loose, black cloak that conservative Muslim women wear.
Suicide bombers have been al Qaeda's most lethal weapon in Iraq, killing hundreds of civilians and members of Iraq's security forces.
Al Qaeda has been recruiting women for suicide attacks because they can pass police checkpoints more easily than men by concealing explosives under an abaya, a loose, black cloak that conservative Muslim women wear.
Suicide bombers have been al Qaeda's most lethal weapon in Iraq, killing hundreds of civilians and members of Iraq's security forces.
The killing of the young woman was discovered when security forces, searching for her on suspicion she had ties to al Qaeda, raided her fa ther's home Thursday in the town of Mandali, about 60 miles northeast of Baghdad, in the former Sunni-insurgent stronghold of Diyala province, said Maj. Gha lib al-Karkhi.
The father, Najim al- Anbaky, was detained during the raid, and dur ing questioning he told police he had killed his daughter, Shahlaa, a month earlier because he found out she intended to blow herself up in a suicide attack for al Qaeda, al-Karkhi told The Associated Press.
Al-Anbaky showed police what he said was the woman's grave, al-Karkhi said. The father remains in custody and is under investigation, but no charges have been made yet. He was not immediately available for comment.
Another police official said authorities were investigating the possibility that the woman had a boyfriend in al Qaeda. The official said that according to local police records, the man killed a sister in 1984 in what was described as an honor killing.
Authorities, acting on a tip that the daughter was going to blow herself up, pulled the father in for questioning, at first not knowing that the daughter was dead, a senior Iraqi army official said.
The father at first denied his daughter had any links to the terror group, but after further questioning admitted to killing her.
Authorities dug up the body as part of the probe, the official said.
The father, Najim al- Anbaky, was detained during the raid, and dur ing questioning he told police he had killed his daughter, Shahlaa, a month earlier because he found out she intended to blow herself up in a suicide attack for al Qaeda, al-Karkhi told The Associated Press.
Al-Anbaky showed police what he said was the woman's grave, al-Karkhi said. The father remains in custody and is under investigation, but no charges have been made yet. He was not immediately available for comment.
Another police official said authorities were investigating the possibility that the woman had a boyfriend in al Qaeda. The official said that according to local police records, the man killed a sister in 1984 in what was described as an honor killing.
Authorities, acting on a tip that the daughter was going to blow herself up, pulled the father in for questioning, at first not knowing that the daughter was dead, a senior Iraqi army official said.
The father at first denied his daughter had any links to the terror group, but after further questioning admitted to killing her.
Authorities dug up the body as part of the probe, the official said.
