November 23, 2009
Iraq offers incentive to intermarry
by Ahmed Fadaam and Aamer Madhani
USA Today
BAGHDAD -- Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi has an unusual proposal to mend some of Iraq's sectarian wounds: He offers mixed couples a $2,000 "gift" if they get married.
Before the U.S. invasion, intermarriage between Shiites and Sunnis was fairly common. As sectarian fighting ripped apart the country, intermarriage became a rarity.
Now that the security situation is relatively calm, the Iraqi government wants to nudge couples of mixed sects to get hitched, hoping that will repair the relationship between Iraq's majority Shiite and minority Sunni populations.
"After 2006, we found that mixed marriages had stopped," said Raad Majeed Mohammed, an aide to al-Hashemi, a Sunni and one of Iraq's two vice presidents. "The idea behind this project is that promoting love and socializing between Iraq's people is good for the country."
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