Television series shows Iraqi terror suspects having gay sex

Terror suspects in northern Iraq have become the focus of public loathing and criticism, not just because of their alleged horrific acts of violence but also because of a television series that appears to document them engaging in gay sex. A shopkeeper and mechanical engineer called Sheik Zana is accused of recruiting terrorists and leading them on a seemingly pointless campaign of savagery in northern Iraq's Kurdistan region. In a series of TV broadcasts last week, Zana was seen confessing that he and his followers beheaded, dismembered, gunned down, and raped fellow citizens for as long as a decade. Videotapes that Zana's group made of their activities were also shown. The New York Times reported that Sheik Zana's confessions stand out because he and his followers not only videotaped what appear to have been horrific murders and rapes but also rolled tape when they had sex among themselves and the young men they were trying to recruit. Even though the broadcasts included graphic scenes of beheadings and torture, some who viewed the broadcasts said that the heavily edited images of gay sex were the most offensive. Arkan Mamza said to the Times, "The homosexual part, that's the worst thing." He said his family began shouting at the TV screen when the gay sex scenes appeared. Government employee Nadia Mohamad said the beheading scene made her vomit but that she was almost equally as shocked when the men started stripping and fondling each other. She told the Times that sex is sacred and that the gay sex scenes were humiliating. The TV programs were distributed to broadcasters by Kurdish intelligence and security services, with the aim of exposing terrorist recruiting tactics and discrediting their religious sales pitches. (Sirius/OutQ)