In Iraq, family mourns daughter who drowned crossing to UK

By SALAR SALIM and SAMYA KULLAB
Associated Press

IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — Snow globes, teddy bears and makeup brushes. These were the trinkets left behind in northern Iraq by Maryam Nouri who perished this week along with at least 26 others in an ill-fated voyage with dreams of reaching Britain. A wake for Nouri, called Baran by her friends and family, was held in Soran on Sunday in the Kurdish semi-autonomous northern region. Male relatives sat outside the family home, counting prayer beads in her remembrance, in line with local customs. Her body has not yet reached Iraq, pending legal issues. Nouri, 24, had boarded an inflatable boat carrying migrants with hopes of being reunited with her fiancé, Karzan in the United Kingdom. The flimsy boat sunk, drowning at least 27 migrants.