Who are the yazidis?

The Yazidis are Kurds who have their own non-Islamic religion, which has elements of many other faiths including ancient Persian religions. They have been persecuted in the past by Muslim rulers calling them "devil worshippers", something they deny.

Their complex belief system, which includes seven angels led by the Peacock Angel, gives members of the Yazidis a strong sense of group identity. Too much contact with non-Yazidis is seen as polluting and to be avoided.

Almost all other faiths in the region have contributed something to the Yazidi religion, including Zoroastrianism, Christianity, Islam, and Gnosticism. Taboos are said to include eating lettuce.

There are small Yazidi minorities in other parts of the region but they are being depleted by emigration and absorption. Most of the 350,000-strong Yazidi community in Iraq lives in Nineveh province outside Mosul. Many of them are poor farmers and have been targeted by suicide bombers from al-Qa'ida in Iraq since 2003 as Kurds and non-Muslims.