Rioters rap ‘Green Zone Saddams’; Scores killed

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IRAQ MPs NO-SHOWS AS THOUSANDS DEMAND JOBS, CHANGE

BAGHDAD, Oct 26, (Agencies): At least seven more Iraqi protesters were killed Saturday in clashes with security forces in Baghdad and the southern town of Nasiriyah, as thousands took part in nationwide anti-government protests, officials said.

Thousands of protesters tried to reach Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, home to embassies and government offices. Security forces fired tear-gas as protesters tried to remove blast walls from a main bridge leading to the government district. By nightfall, the security forces had chased the protesters back to Tahrir Square, a central roundabout. Four people were killed when they were struck by tear-gas canisters, security and medical officials said. A second medical official said three protesters were shot dead by security guards when they attacked the office of a provincial official in the southern town of Nasiriyah.

The town in the mainly Shiite south has seen especially violent protests in recent weeks and was placed under a 24-hour curfew on Friday along with the southern city of Basra. At least 48 people have been killed since the protests resumed this week, after 149 were killed in a wave of demonstrations earlier this month.

The spontaneous, leaderless protests are directed at the political establishment that came to power after the 2003 US-led invasion, which many blame for spiraling corruption and poor public services. The Interior Ministry and the military issued statements Saturday saying some protesters have exploited the rallies to attack government buildings and political party offices. The protests against the Shiite-dominated government have been largely concentrated in Shiite-majority areas. The ministry said some of its members were killed as police battled violent protesters but did not give a number.

The military warned that it would take necessary and legal measures to deal with those it called saboteurs. Iraqi officials said 12 of those killed Friday died in a fire they had set when they stormed the office of a government backed militia in the southern town of Diwaniyah. A security official said protesters torched the offices of at least three militias in southern Maysan province. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters. In Baghdad, Iraqi police had fired teargas, rubber bullets and live shots on Friday to break up protesters who gathered in the central Tahrir Square and later tried to cross the bridge leading to the Green Zone. The protesters returned in Saturday, clashing with security forces throughout the day.

The rallies have mainly been by young, unemployed men who are demanding jobs and better services. Young women appeared among the crowd in Baghdad for the first time Saturday, some handing out water to the protesters. Some protesters had set up tents in Tahrir Square. Mukhaled Fares, 19, sat on the ground barefoot, carrying a backpack with the Iraqi flag over it. He said his family has migrated to Germany but he refuses to leave Iraq. “The government has been stealing from us for 15 years. Saddam went and 1,000 Saddams have been hiding in the Green Zone,” a young protester, who declined to be named, said on Friday, referring to the former Iraqi dictator. “I want change. I want to remove those corrupt people who sleep in the Green Zone and who fired tear-gas and rubber bullets at us,” Fares said. A widow who identified herself as Um Layth, or the mother of Layth, said she had asked her son and daughter to stay home because she feared for their safety. But the 60-year-old from outside of Baghdad said she came to protest, wanting a better future for her children. Her husband died in Iraq’s eight-year war with Iran in the 1980s.

The Iraqi Parliament failed on Saturday to hold a session aimed at discussing demonstrators’ demands. The scheduled session failed due to lack of quorum of council members, Iraqi News Agency said. The Parliament called its members on Friday to meet to discuss protesters’ demand and to approve the reforms of the federal government.

The State of Kuwait’s embassy in Baghdad advised Kuwaiti nationals against traveling to Iraq, calling on those currently in the country to return home and avoid getting mingled in ongoing protests there. In a press release obtained by KUNA, Kuwaiti Ambassador to Iraq Salem Al-Zamanan said that Kuwaiti citizens should not travel to Iraq in the current moment to avoid protests occurring in various Iraqi cities.

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