A 17-YEAR-OLD Iraqi girl was murdered by her father in an honor killing after falling in love with a British soldier she met while working on an aid program in Basra, it has been claimed.

Rand Abdel-Qader was stamped upon, suffocated and stabbed by her father, then given an unceremonious burial to emphasize her disgrace. Police released her father without charge two hours after his arrest.

A total of 47 young women died in honor killings in the city last year, Basra Security Committee told an investigation into Rand Abdel-Qader’s case by The Observer. This is believed to be the only case of an honor killing involving a British soldier.

Britain had no official advice for troops on how to behave with Iraqi women. The serviceman involved would not have been told that any relationship with her could put her life at risk, the paper said.

Abdel-Qader, a student of English at Basra University, had struck up a friendship with a 22-year-old British infantryman known only as Paul five months before her murder in March.

She was believed to have last seen him in January, and the pair, whose relationship was innocent, only ever met while working at the aid station. The soldier was helping deliver relief to displaced families as part of his regimental duties. Abdel-Qader was a volunteer worker.(SD-Agencies)