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In the midst of sectarian violence, a young couple south of the capital Baghdad from Shi'te and Sunni backgrounds, defy sectarianism and marry. A young Iraqi Sunni Arab has tied the knot with a Shi'ite girl in a rural area south of the capital Baghdad. It should have been a simple story of the young falling in love and marrying, but the union is a willful symbol of defiance against sectarianism, which has engulfed the country since the bombing of a revered Samarran Shi'ite shrine in 2006. Twenty-six year old Muslim Ghali from the mainly Sunni populated area of Albo Alwan in Mahaweel, Babylon province said he fell in love with Inas Shakir Mikhlef and wanted to marry her. "I loved the girl and she returned my love and we have never discussed the fact of being a Sunni and she is a Shi'ite," said Ghali, "We are God willing, against such sectarianism." Ghali's family supported him, encouraged by a gift of $1500 (USD) granted by Iraq's Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi to any man brave enough to break the sectarian barriers and marry a woman from a different sect. Ghali said he will use the money to help pay the cost of the wedding and buy furniture for the couple's new home. The wedding stands as an example of the complex nature of Iraq's society. Not long ago, a Sunni-Shiite wedding would have been commonplace. Mixed marriages were not unusual even in the days of former president Saddam Hussein where Shi'ites were heavily repressed. But in today's Baghdad, it is a brave an...