‘Iraqi police arresting protesters in the south’
Police chase rallyists on main roads and alleys following demonstrations
Iraqi security forces in the southern oil-rich province of Basra have started arresting protesters who took part in the weeklong demonstrations there to demand more jobs and better services, activists said yesterday.
Protests in the city of Basra, the provincial capital and Iraq’s second-largest city, are not unusual in scorching summer weather but they boiled over last Tuesday, when security forces opened fire, killing one person and wounding five.
Within days the rallies spread to other provinces.
The government rushed to contain the protests with promises of thousands of jobs, mainly in the oil sector, and an urgent allocation of 3.5 trillion Iraqi dinars (Dh11 billion) for electricity and water projects. It blamed “infiltrators” for the damages. The arrests started on Sunday night, with police chasing protesters down main roads and alleys following demonstrations in Basra, and also in the countryside and around oilfields, activists said.
The activists could not give a specific number for those arrested, saying only “hundreds”. They spoke on condition of anonymity. They said the internet was back on after a two-day shutdown, but a heavy deployment of security forces outside the government building in Basra prevented protesters from gathering there yesterday.
Meanwhile, authorities reopened the country’s secondbusiest airport, in the city of Najaf, following a two-day shutdown after a mob broke into the facility on Friday, damaging the passenger terminal and vandalising equipment.
Transportation Minister Kadhim Finjan Al Hamai was at Najaf airport to announce its reopening on state TV as an Iraqi Airways plane landed behind him. He said 18 local and international flights landed yesterday. The shutdown had caused “heavy losses” to the government, the airport and airline companies, he said.
Kuwait Airways, Royal Jordanian and Iran’s Aviation Authority suspended flights to Najaf on Sunday. Iraq’s vital Umm Qasr port on the Gulf, and two main border crossings — Safwan with Kuwait and Shalamcheh with Iran — were closed to both passengers and goods.
The government rushed to contain the protests with promises of thousands of jobs, and allocation of 3.5 trillion Iraqi dinars for electricity and water projects
Kuwait’s support
Also, Kuwaiti Emir Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah said his country was ready to support Iraq, adding that “stability of Baghdad is among Kuwait’s chief concerns”, according to Kuwait’s state news agency.