BY NATASHA BARSOTTI — Two men facing execution for reportedly being gay escaped that fate after an intervention by French, Mali and other African troops, which drove back Islamist fighters from the city of Gao, Reuters reports.
"During the trial, there were no defense witnesses, it was controlled," says one man, speaking through a translator. "They told us they were going to cut our throats for being homosexual, even though another man said that without witness testimony we wouldn't be."
Watch the Reuters video report.
Gay Star News quotes UK-based gay rights advocate Omar Kuddus as saying, "fundamental Islamists, having been indoctrinated by religious leaders who impose their own views and interpretations on homosexuality have become obsessed with the idea and this impels them to commit such atrocities and crimes against humanity. If the French led forces had not rescued, found and freed these two Malian men who were about to be executed today, their plight and deaths would have gone unnoticed."
Landing image: Lonely Planet
