Sabeans fleeing persecution in Iraq find cold refuge in reluctant Jordan

By Tim Fitzsimons Special to The Daily Star Saturday, July 05, 2008 AMMAN: Asel didn't come to Jordan because he wanted to. Neither did his parents. They, like so many others, stole out of their native Iraq at the last minute, when word came that gangs were coming to kill them and their loves ones. Since that fateful morning in 2004, Asel, his two brothers, and his parents have been in Jordan, passing time waiting for something that might enable them to end their limbo and move on. They won't to go back to Iraq, so great was the trauma that caused them to leave. They were targeted because they are Sabeans, members of a small religious group in Iraq who trace their creed back to the teachings of St. John the Baptist. In the turbulent years since the beginning of the US-led war in Iraq, Asel's family and many Sabeans have... [read full story]