Maybe it was the rumpled black T-shirt under the prim, princess-style wedding gown, or perhaps the bride’s steely-eyed scowl.
Or the fact that the sheepish groom refused to lift the lacy veil from his brooding-rather-than-blushing bride’s stubbly mug.
But when soldiers manning a checkpoint 12 miles north of Baghdad finally ordered the wedding party out of the car, they weren’t sure whether to laugh or shoot.
The “bride” and “groom” were terrorists disguising themselves to outwit eagle-eyed Iraqi troops, the Iraqi Defense Ministry said yesterday.
A Defense Ministry official said soldiers at the checkpoint in the Taji area north of Baghdad became suspicious of the wedding convoy because its members – except for the dark, mysterious “bride” in an ill-fitting gown – were all men, and because one of the cars in the convoy didn’t heed orders to stop.
The official also noted that soldiers said the wedding party seemed more than a little nervous, given the happy occasion they were supposedly celebrating.
And then, the groom refused to lift his bride’s veil when soldiers asked him to, according to the official.
So soldiers ordered everyone out of the car.
And that’s when things got interesting.
Upon inspecting the convoy, soldiers found stubbly-faced terrorist Haider al-Bahadli decked out in a traditional, princess-neck, embroidered bridal dress and veil, and clutching a spray of demure white flowers.
Both Bahadli and “groom” Abbas-al-Dobbi, were arrested on terror-related charges. Two other men, also found to be wanted militants, were also detained from the bogus wedding party.
The defense ministry didn’t say when the nutty nuptial party was busted, but yesterday shared the pictures of the less-than-happy couple.
Not that cross-dressing is a new terrorist trick. Reports have surfaced that gender-bending terrorists have included Osama Bin Laden, who apparently has traveled at night with his entourage, all dressed as women.
Author and journalist Ron Suskind reportedly noted a Homeland Security threat advisory in 2003 warned of a broad range of tactics al-Qaeda might use, including truck bombs and suicide bombers dressed as women.
On April 7, 2006, a triple suicide bombing by men dressed as women targeted worshippers just as they were leaving a Shiite mosque in Baghdad, killing 90 and wounding 175.
With AP and other Post Wire Services