Petrelis Files

Conservatives Push 'Muslims Burn 
Homos Alive' Video: Authentication?

An acquaintance today alerted me to a video circulating on right wing and anti-Muslim sites purporting showing bound and blindfolded homosexuals doused with flammable liquid, tossed into a pit with a fire blazing, then engulfed in flames.

Googling for more info, I found dozens of conservative sites calling attention to the video, all from the angle that Muslims had burned homosexuals, but what I couldn't locate was an authoritative organization offering authentication for the claims made or facts about where, when and why the death-by-fire killings took place.

What I'd like to eventually learn is why conservative elements for the past 2-3 weeks have been citing and promoting the video, as if they give a damn about homosexuals in the Middle East or anywhere around the planet. Are right wingers stoking bias against Muslims this month, raising a homosexual link in an effort to rile up liberals and the gay community?

However, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) site's blog contains a post from February 13, 2008, stating the video was from the Turkish Daily Hurriyet site. MEMRI said: "Video of Al-Qaeda in Iraq dousing Iraqis taken as prisoners with fuel and burning them alive while shouting 'Allah u Akhbar.'" [Allah u Akhbar = God is Great.]

The analysts at MEMRI have not previously shied away from posting videos with anti-homosexual or gay content, and I would not expect this think-tank and monitoring organization to omit a potential homosexual element to the video below. If there is authentication of the video, let know where to find it.

WARNING: The images are disturbing and graphic, regardless of the sexual orientation of the dead or reasons for the deaths.