Marriages Between Sects Come Under Siege in Iraq

Once a Sign of Tolerance, Unions Now Seen as Perilous Betrayals

Welcome to Iraqi Liberation White House Style.

Sudarsan Raghavan, Washington Post Foreign Service

...Today, Mahmoud, a small woman with thin eyebrows curving over her almond-shaped eyes, lives with her relatives. Her husband lives in Cairo with his family. Her Sunni family is pressing her to divorce him because of his sect. His Shiite family is convinced all Sunnis are criminals. The couple have met twice since April. "We love each other a lot," said Mahmoud, 37, a faint smile appearing on her oval face, framed by a lime green head scarf. "That's what makes it worse. We're suffering because we cannot live together." She requested that her husband's name not be used because he is well known in her neighborhood. Seated inside a hotel, her voice dropped to a whisper whenever someone passed nearby...

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