Iraqi police kill
teen for sleeping with men

A 14-year-old Iraqi boy has been killed by Iraqi police for sleeping with men for money to support his impoverished family. According to Baghdad neighbors who witnessed the murder, Ahmed Khalil was shot at point-blank range by men wearing police uniforms, The Independent in London reports. Neighbors also said that the boy's father was arrested two days before the execution and questioned about his son's sexual activities. The family has since fled their home in the al-Dura district of Baghdad in fear of more attacks. "Young Ahmed was a victim of poverty," Ali Hili, the head of a London-based group of gay Iraqi exiles, told The Independent. "He was summarily executed, apparently by fundamentalist elements in the Iraqi police." Since Iraqi Shia leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani issued a fatwa against gays and lesbians, the country has seen a marked increase in antigay hate crimes. (The Advocate)