Emeutes à Kirkuk, Basra, Sulaimaniya, Kut – 17 février 2011

Protests Spread to More Iraqi Cities

nytimes.com

February 17, 2011

BAGHDAD — Unrest continued to spread in Iraq on Thursday, with new protests erupting in several cities and reports from law enforcement officials that private security guards in Kurdistan killed five people who tried to storm the political offices of the region’s leader.

It was the second time in two days that rock-throwing protesters were killed, though the shooting Wednesday in Kut was by government forces. In most of the demonstrations, people are calling for better government services, including more electricity, but in the eastern city of Kut and in Basra in the south they are demanding the resignation of provincial governors.

The demonstrations, although over long-festering grievances, appear to have been inspired by the unrest elsewhere in the Middle East.

The protests in the Kurdish area, in Sulaimaniya, and in Kut were far more violent than others that have popped up around Iraq over the past few weeks.

In Sulaimaniya, the protesters attacked the headquarters of the Patriotic Democratic Party of Kurdistan, which is headed by the Kurdish region’s president, Massoud Barzani.

At first, guards at the fired their guns in the air. But when the protesters continued throwing rocks at the building, the guards opened fire.

Meanwhile, in Kut, about 1,000 protesters took to the streets demanding the release of 45 people arrested Wednesday after clashes with security forces.

Protesters on Wednesday set the provincial government headquarters and governor’s home on fire after security forces fired on them as they threw rocks at the building, demanding that the governor resign. Three people died in the melee and at least 27 were injured, including a security officer.

The protesters in Kut have called on the province’s governor, Latif Hamad al-Tarfa, to resign over accusations that he stole money from the government and failed to improve the economy and electrical supply.

A donkey with the word “the governor” scrawled on its side stood with demonstrators in front of the headquarters on Thursday.

“We will stay here in the street until the governor walks out,” said Mahdi al-Yasiry, a 37-year old engineer who is unemployed. “Everything in this province is bad. No gas. No electricity. No jobs. No nothing.”

Kut, a mostly Shiite city of about 850,000, is about 100 miles southeast of Baghdad and is one of the poorest cities in Iraq. Read more…