Obscure Yazidi Sect Accused of Devil Worship

Yarmouk Compound, Iraq, Jan. 4--(AP) Tucked away in a mountainous area in northern Iraq is the Yarmouk Compound, home to followers of an obscure faith derided by some as a religion of devil worship. Yazidi traditions are so shrouded in secrecy, no outsiders have seen its most important rituals. Few people besides Yazidi religious leaders have copies of the group's holy books.

Living on the margins of this predominantly Islamic country, Yazidis struggle to maintain their traditions, with many settling in the compound's 3,000 squat mud houses at the end of an unpaved three-mile road. "It's better to live alone so that the morals of our youth wouldn't change," said Rashu Aizdu, a 56-year-old Yazidi school worker.

Yazidis are ethnic Kurds whose religion blends elements of Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam and other faiths, researchers say. Sheik Adi, a Sufi Arab who lived in the 12th century in northern Iraq, is considered the religion's chief saint. Many Yazidi rituals center on the sheik's tomb, north of Mosul, where pilgrims hold festivals that include some ceremonies conducted in secret. Accusations of satanic worship are rooted in a central figure in the Yazidi tradition called Malak Ta'us, or the Peacock Angel, who many Muslims and other non-Yazidis consider the devil.

Yazidis, however, believe Malak Ta'us fell from grace, then later repented and must be appeased to avert his wrath. Yazidis have a hymn dedicated to Malak Ta'us and often display his peacock image and kiss it as part of their rituals. "He can kill us, destroy our houses and punish us. We fear him," said Aizdu, sitting on the floor in a bare room where the compound's men gather for coffee and a smoke.

Yazidis have small communities in Syria, Turkey, Iran, Georgia and Armenia, but the majority of the estimated 100,000 followers of the religion live in Iraq. Iraq's government boasts of its tolerance of the Yazidis, but Yazidis are little more than tolerated. Most live in poverty and are the target of contempt. The government forbids discrimination in hiring or housing, but can't stop other Iraqis from calling Yazidis "devil worshippers" or viewing them as defiled.

Though their beliefs and lifestyle may set Yazidis apart from other Iraqis, they say times of need bring them closer, like in the army. "We live together, sleep together (in the army) and fight the enemy together. One gives his blood to the other - his friend, his brother," Aizdu said.

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