The Baghdad head of the international group Iraqi LGBT was assassinated in late September, activists in London reported.

Bashar, 27, was gunned down in a barbershop.

“Militias burst in and sprayed his body with bullets at point-blank range,” said leading British gay activist Peter Tatchell. “The exact identity of the gunmen is unclear, but he was probably murdered by the Islamist death squads who are targeting lesbian and gay Iraqis for ‘sexual cleansing.’”

Bashar was the local coordinator of foreign-funded “safe houses” for gays and lesbians living in Iraq.

At least 10 people were injured – six of whom required hospitalization – when dozens of hooded, bearded men shouting “Kill the gays” and “Allahu akbar” (“God is great”) attacked the opening of the first Sarajevo Queer Festival in Bosnia and Herzegovina on Sept. 24.

Some attendees were dragged from cars while others were chased down the streets near the Academy of Fine Arts, site of the festival’s opening events. A police officer and two journalists also were injured.

The five-day, indoor, arts and culture festival offered exhibitions, performances, movies and public discussions.

Some local media had campaigned for violence against the festival, urging that the organizers be lynched, stoned, doused with gasoline or expelled from the country.

Posters advocating “Death to gays” appeared around Sarajevo in early September, and the festival was denounced by some imams, who objected, among other things, to its coinciding with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

“We do not feel safe for ourselves or for our families,” one of the event’s organizers told Amnesty International prior to the festival’s opening. “Some of us had to find new accommodation because our names and addresses were made publicly known. We are afraid to use public transport or go out alone.”

The European Parliament’s Intergroup on Gay and Lesbian Rights strongly condemned the attacks.

“It is a cowardly behavior to challenge the views one disagrees with by violence,” said Intergroup President Michael Cashman. “Bosnia-Herzegovina wants to become a member of the European Union and the country should clearly show that it is ready for membership. Authorities and society at large must show that they can respect the rights of gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender people not just in law, but also in practice. Respect for human rights is at the heart of EU membership.”

Ten masked protesters attacked 25 people leaving an event of the Fifth Queer Belgrade Festival on Sept. 19 in Serbia, injuring four people.

One of the injured individuals was American and another Russian. Two of the attackers were arrested.

The Queer Belgrade Collective issued a statement demanding police locate and arrest the remaining perpetrators and punish them in a proper and timely manner.

The group also urged the government to amend the Serbian Criminal Code to recognize hate crimes.

The festival featured movies, performances, bands and panel discussions.

United States TV interviewer Larry King quizzed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on his nation’s treatment of gays on Sept. 23.

There have been persistent, though unconfirmed, reports for years that Iran hangs men for the crime of engaging in gay sex.

King said: “People (are) protesting that they don’t have the same rights as other people. Homosexuals – you said last year, you denied there were homosexuals (in Iran). There’s homosexuals everywhere.”

Ahmadinejad replied: “I said it’s not the way it is here (in the U.S.). In Iran this is considered a very – obviously most people dislike it. And we have actually a law regarding it and the law is enforced. It is a law that was passed. It was legislated. And it is an act that is against human principles. A lot of things can happen. It can cause psychological problems, social problems that affect the whole society. Remember that God’s rules are to improve human life. In our religion, this act is forbidden and the Parliament has legislated about it. Not now, 70 years ago. This is something that happened 70 years ago, before the Islamic Republic became – ”

King interjected, “So what happens to gay people?”

Ahmadinejad replied: “Well, of course, nobody has held protests. You are – are you concerned for 70 million Iranian people or a few homosexuals? Let’s assume in Iran – let’s assume in the United States that 200 million people drive cars and a million violators are rounded up and they just basically violate driving laws. Should we be worried for the 199 million people whose safety we must be concerned about or the one million violators? The law is the law and it’s law. And it must be enforced. Of course, we do pay attention that in Iran nobody interferes in the private lives of individuals. We have nothing to do with the private realm of people. This is at the (level of) not-private, public morality. In their own house, nobody ever interferes with people.”

Last year, during a speech at Columbia University in New York City, Ahmadinejad also was asked about the nation’s treatment of gay people.

He responded: “We in Iran ... don’t have hamjensbaz (a derogatory term for homosexuals) like you have in your country. In our country, there is no such a thing. In Iran, such a thing does not – in Iran, in Iran, absolutely such a thing does not exist as a phenomenon. I don’t know who told you otherwise.”

Iran is known to have executed several teens and men accused of engaging in sodomy, although in nearly all the cases that have been publicized in recent years the individuals were accused of other crimes as well, such as rape.

Assistance: Bill Kelley