Police disperse protesters outside oilfield
Iraqi police wielded batons and rubber hoses to disperse about 250 protesters gathered at the main entrance to the Zubair oilfield near Basra yesterday as unrest across southern cities over poor basic services gathered pace.
Since demonstrations began nine days ago, protesters have attacked government buildings, branches of political parties and powerful Shi’ite militias and stormed the international airport in the holy city of Najaf.
Tensions focused attention on the performance of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who is seeking a second term after May 12 parliamentary elections tainted by allegations of fraud that prompted a recount.
In his weekly news conference yesterday, Abadi promised to work with protesters to fight corruption and said the government would improve services.
Officials and industry sources said the protests have not affected output at Zubair, run by Italy’s Eni, and the other major oilfields including Rumaila developed by BP and West Qurna 2 managed by Lukoil.
There were no reports of employees evacuating oil fields. But some foreigners took precautions.
“We asked the Japanese company to speed the building of the Basra major water project and to start test operations to pump water to Basra,” Abadi told the news conference.
“But the bad news is the Japanese experts left due to threats. They also feared violent actions and the acts of aggression and setting fire to institutions.”
He did not specify what kind of threats.
Many Iraqis believe their leaders do not share the country’s oil wealth.
Some demonstrators said foreign labourers were robbing them of employment at oil companies.
Three protesters have been killed in clashes with police, including one at West Qurna 2, and dozens wounded.
Dozens of policemen were also injured.
“We the people of Basra hear about the Iraqi oil and its huge revenues, but we never enjoy its benefits,” said 24-year-old protester Esam Jabbar.