"I don't want to be gay anymore. When I go out to buy bread, I'm afraid. When the doorbell rings, I think that they have come for me."
That is the fear that haunts Hussein, and other gay men in Iraq.
They say that since the US-led invasion, gays are being killed because of their sexual orientation.
They blame the increase in violence on the growing influence of religious figures and militia groups in Iraq since Saddam Hussein was ousted.
Islam considers homosexuality sinful. A website published in the name of Ayatollah Sistani, Iraq's most revered Shia cleric, says gays should be put to death.
"Those who commit sodomy must be killed in the harshest way," says a section of the website dealing with questions of morality.
Sistani's official website calls for gays to be executed
The statement appears on the Arabic section of the website, which is published in the Iranian city of Qom, but not in the English section.
The BBC asked Mr Sistani's representative, Seyed Kashmiri, to explain the ruling.
"Homosexuals and lesbians are not killed for practising their inclinations for the first time," Mr Kashmiri said in a response sent via email.
continued...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4915172.stm
That is the fear that haunts Hussein, and other gay men in Iraq.
They say that since the US-led invasion, gays are being killed because of their sexual orientation.
They blame the increase in violence on the growing influence of religious figures and militia groups in Iraq since Saddam Hussein was ousted.
Islam considers homosexuality sinful. A website published in the name of Ayatollah Sistani, Iraq's most revered Shia cleric, says gays should be put to death.
"Those who commit sodomy must be killed in the harshest way," says a section of the website dealing with questions of morality.
Sistani's official website calls for gays to be executed
The statement appears on the Arabic section of the website, which is published in the Iranian city of Qom, but not in the English section.
The BBC asked Mr Sistani's representative, Seyed Kashmiri, to explain the ruling.
"Homosexuals and lesbians are not killed for practising their inclinations for the first time," Mr Kashmiri said in a response sent via email.
continued...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4915172.stm
