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              VOA Exclusive: Iraqi Soldier's Death at Hands of IS

   by Dilshad Anwar

   Late last month, the Iraqi military told Samir Murad's family he was
   killed in battle with the Islamic State.

   Murad, a Shi'ite Kurd with the national army, had been near Fallujah,
   trying to stop the advance of the Sunni extremists.

   His distraught brother immediately set off for Baghdad from his home in
   Khanaqin near the Iranian border.

   "There was no body," Amir Murad said, recalling his attempts to find
   his brother. "They kept saying he was martyred, but there was no body."

   Samir Murad, 46, was, at that point, still alive. As Amir desperately
   sought news in the capital, Samir was being held prisoner by the
   Islamic State. One week later, in an IS spectacle, Samir Murad was shot
   and killed.

   The militants posted a video of his death online, part of a propaganda
   piece showcasing Sunni tribal leaders in Fallujah pledging loyalty to
   the Islamic State - the same type of leaders the U.S. hopes to bring
   into its anti-IS fight.

   The Sunni sheiks, first shown sipping bottled Turkish orange juice to
   celebrate the alliance, lined up to watch as masked gunmen brought
   Murad before them.

   Wearing his army fatigues, he kept his head held high as he was forced
   to kneel.

   A spokesman for the sheikhs read at length from a speech. The elders
   listened, some with rifles leaning against the paunch of their bellies.

   Murad looked skyward, slowly opening and closing his eyes, as if to
   block out the scene.

   The voice droned on; the minutes crawled by. There was a cutaway to the
   sheikhs chatting and smiling. As the video ended, Murad was lying on
   the ground, his head covered in blood.

   His brother learned of his death on Facebook.

   Back in Khanaqin, with no body to bury, family and friends held a
   memorial for Murad at a local mosque. His relatives said they will
   press charges against the Sunni tribal leaders who watched over his
   death. But with the sheikhs safely ensconced among their Islamic State
   allies, justice may be a long way off.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/iraqi-soldiers-death-at-hands-is-mili
   tants/2829322.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/iraqi-soldiers-death-at-hands-is-militants/2829322.html