Yazidis worship an archangel, sometimes represented by a peacock figure believed by some Christians and Muslims to be the devil.

BBC: NEWS | Middle East | Iraq bomb death toll reaches 250

In Sinjar, west of Mosul, some Yazidis, who predominate there, say the Kurds want to force them to vote for the Kurdish list.

ECONOMIST: Iraq

To minimise their expected losses, the Kurds are bent on ensuring that all the non-Sunni minorities, such as the Christians, Yazidis and Shabaks, vote for a Kurdish-led list of candidates.

ECONOMIST: Iraq

Each party took 41 seats, most of the rest going to mild Islamists, Turkomen, Christians and Yazidis (followers of a sect that is said to descend from Roman-era worshippers of the god Mithras), nearly all with the blessing of the two big Kurdish parties.

ECONOMIST: Iraq's Kurds