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Peaceful demonstration
in Kurdish region spills over into a riot with
political overtones.
Dissatisfaction over inadequate water and
electricity supplies led to a recent mass protest in
the Kurdish town of Kalar, which left buildings
burnt and some 30 people injured in clashes with
police.
More than 2,000 residents, most of them in their
twenties, marched down the streets of Kalar on
September 7, demanding that basic public services be
restored to an acceptable level. They also
complained about fuel shortages that have been going
on for two years.
It is the first time that there have been protests
of this size against government services in Iraqi
Kurdistan. Such demonstrations have in the past been
limited to other parts of the country, like Baghdad.
Awat Sheikh Janab – the top official in Kalar, and a
member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, PUK,
which controls the town – said 34 people were
wounded in the protests. Six of them were reportedly
shot and the others injured by stone-throwers.
The demonstrations in Kalar were organised by two
local groups founded two months ago, the
Kalar-Rizgary Civil Association and the Change
Association.
Prior to the protests, the mayor and eight
sub-district commissioners had announced that they
would step down if public services weren’t improved.
But the clashes broke out after the mayor refused to
talk to the demonstrators.
Later, the marchers attacked government buildings
and other offices, setting some alight. Government
officials said property including a car, eight
computers, furniture and television sets were burnt,
and some 15 million dinars, over 10,000 US dollars,
were stolen from a local labour office.
Rebin Taha, a spokesman for the demonstrators,
downplayed the allegations, insisting that the
damage was not great.
Major-General Hussein Mansour, who heads Kalar's
fire service, said 17 of his men were wounded in the
clashes.
While the vast majority of the demonstrators had
legitimate demands "some were saboteurs and others
were looters”, he said. “It is true that there have
been fuel shortages but the fuel we have has been
distributed fairly.”
Awat Sheikh Janab admitted there had been shortages
of water and electricity, but said the demonstrators
went too far.
“The young had good intentions and we support their
demands, but the rioters exploited the situation,”
he said.
He added that the protesters arrested by police
included supporters of the Islamic militant group
Ansar al-Islam, and he suggested that other
political parties had also engineered the riots.
Brigadier-General Nawshirwan Ahmed, the security
chief in Kalar, confirmed that some members of
political parties were arrested, including members
of the Kurdish Islamic Union and the Kurdistan
Democratic Party, KDP.
Local officials blamed the KDP – a longstanding
rival of the PUK – for escalating the violence.
But Taha said the protesters were simply asserting
their rights, and insisted that none of them was
motivated by partisan politics. “There were no
saboteurs among us,” he said.
Mohammad Abdullah, a local KDP official, denied that
his party had played any part in the violence,
adding, “There are few services here and the
government is negligent.”
A day after the demonstrations, the Kalar offices of
the PUK and the Kurdistan Islamic Union offices
released a joint statement in which they both
expressed their support for residents’ demands and
condemned the violence.
Wyria Hama Tahir is an IWPR trainee in
Sulaimaniyah.
www.iwpr.net
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