NORTHERN Iraq’s Yazidi community appointed a new spiritual leader on Wednesday, two months after their chief religious guide Khurto Hajji Ismail died at the age of 87.
Ali Alvas was named as the religious minority’s new Baba Sheikh at a ceremony in the temple of Lalish, which the holiest site for Yazidis.
Hundreds of people gathered for the ceremony, which came at a time of heightened regional tensions. There have been protests at a recent so-called security deal in the town of Shengal, stitched up by Baghdad and the region’s ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) behind the backs of the Yazidi population.
Under the deal, which has been rejected by Shengal’s people and current administration, a new unelected mayor, Khidir Rasho, was appointed to govern the region.
Mr Rasho has not lived in the country for more than seven years and the KDP has not had an operational office in the region since 2014, when Isis took…
