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Asher
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Calgary, Alberta
Nov 1999
time: 22:32
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Indeed, the Brits are doing a splendid job.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast...main/index.html
quote:
Iraqis angry over protest killings
Sunday, January 11, 2004 Posted: 12:44 PM EST (1744 GMT)
Iraqis protest Sunday in the southern city of Amarah.
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Crowds of Iraqis have been protesting the killings of at least five people by police and British troops.
Police officers and soldiers opened fire on demonstrators Saturday when they said a demonstration in the southern Iraqi city of Amarah over unemployment turned violent. A British military official in Basra said five people were killed and a sixth person was wounded.
Witnesses told Reuters that scores of Iraqis, many related to those killed, staged another protest in the city, 320 kilometers (200 miles) southeast of Baghdad, on Sunday demanding compensation.
The protest was reported to be peaceful with no reports of violence. The Associated Press said British troops with riot shields and batons were guarding the mayor's office, which had its windows smashed the day before by the demonstrators.
Saturday's clashes started when shots rang out from the crowd, a British military spokeswoman said. Meanwhile, troops "received reports of small explosions in the crowd," she told the AP.
Iraqi police, thinking they were under attack, opened fire into the crowd but did not hit anyone, she said. However, witnesses said the police killed some protesters.
British officials told CNN that soldiers moved in with armored vehicles to support the police, and protesters hurled explosive devices at them.
The soldiers shot dead a man preparing to throw a device, they said. However, officials could not give details on how the other Iraqis died.
Six people were killed and at least 11 wounded, Dr. Saad Hamoud, of the Al-Zahrawi Surgical Hospital, told the AP. The British said they had reports of five deaths and one injury. The soldiers and police had no casualties.
A number of protests over unemployment have been staged in Iraq since the toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime in April. On Tuesday, police in Basra opened fire on former Iraqi soldiers who were demanding payment of a promised stipend. At least four people were wounded.
About half of Iraq's 26 million population are unemployed or underemployed, according to a United Nations/World Bank report issued in October. Of those, 400,000 are former Iraqi soldiers who lost their jobs when U.S. administrator Paul Bremer abolished the army.
The deaths on Saturday came as U.S. officials acknowledged that American soldiers had killed two Iraqi policemen on Friday when the men failed to identify themselves near Kirkuk.
The military also said a U.S. Army helicopter that crashed last week near Fallujah, killing nine soldiers, was probably shot down. However, U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said the cause was still under investigation.
The UH-60 transport helicopter was on a medical evacuation mission when it crashed, military officials said. It was the latest of several fatal crashes and the third in Fallujah since November.
The city is west of Baghdad in a region known as the "Sunni Triangle," a hotbed of anti-U.S.-led coalition activity.
Investigators also are looking into an apparent attack Thursday on a C-5 cargo plane that had to limp back to Baghdad International Airport when one of its engines exploded shortly after takeoff. |
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30-12-2003 17:43
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