Iraqi mother killed after speaking out

BASRA, Iraq, June 1 (UPI) -- An Iraqi mother who told the international media about the honor killing of her teenage daughter has been killed in Iraq, a British newspaper reported.

While Leila Hussein had been in hiding since she told the story of her child's death, unidentified assailants fatally shot her May 17 as she was going to meet someone who could smuggle her out of the country, The Observer reported.

Hussein had feared for her life since she told the Observer how her husband had allegedly brutally suffocated, stomped and stabbed their 17-year-old daughter to death March 16 in an attempt to preserve the family's honor after the girl befriended a British soldier.

Hussein divorced her husband two weeks after his alleged crime, breaking an Iraq tradition where women rarely leave their husbands.

Her actions also led her sons, ages 21 and 23, to disown her for violating those traditions, the Observer said.

Police told the newspaper there was no evidence in Hussein's shooting to indicate her family had anything to do with her death.