Freedom on hold

FROM afar, Mount Sinjar rises out of Iraq’s caked-earth flats like a giant upturned tureen. Up close, its crevices offer glimpses of lush tobacco plantations, and the homes of Yazidis lurking within. So formidable are its rugged defences that it has defeated the many foes who for centuries have sought to stamp out the ancient peacock-worshipping sect. Even the most recent and cruel, Islamic State (IS), which massacred and enslaved Yazidi communities on the plains with abandon, gave up the effort once it reached its foothills.