Latest protests

Iraqi protesters rally in the rain

CNN reports (March 25^th): Throngs of demonstrators protested in the rain, rallying in central Baghdad's Tahrir Square against corruption, unemployment, the lack of basic services and the treatment of prisoners.

Several women also turned out at the square to call on the Iraqi government to release sons and husbands who are in the prison awaiting trial or investigation. Some were carrying photos of their loved ones.

At least 15 inmates were wounded after a riot broke out at Baghdad's Rasafa prison, Interior Ministry officials told CNN. Dozens of Rasafa inmates had set tents afire in the prison yard to protest against ill treatment, poor conditions inside the prison and the sectarian bias of some wardens in favor of Shiite inmates over Sunnis, officials said.

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/03/25/iraq.unrest/index.html#

Iraqis protest demanding better services, release of prisoners

M&C report (March 25^th):  Hundreds of protesters gathered in central Baghdad amid tight security to demand better public services and the release of prisoners held in jail without trial.

Many of those detained are either political prisoners or were arrested following major attacks on the country after the 2003 US-led invasion.

Protesters also chanted slogans urging the government to put an end to corruption and improve services in the country.

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1628697.php/Iraqis-protest-demanding-better-services-release-of-prisoners

1,000 protestors in Diala to support Bahraini people

Aswat Al-Iraq reports (March 25^th): More than one thousand protestors went to streets in Diala to show support to the Bahraini people.

http://en.aswataliraq.info/Default1.aspx?page=article_page&id=141625&l=1

Iraqis Take to the Streets, Call for Real Democracy

David Bacon reports for Truth Out (March 25^th): Demonstrations have taken place in Baghdad, Basra and Kirkuk, among other cities, calling on the US in particular to stop its escalating military intervention in Libya. Iraqi unions have been especially vocal, linking the US invasion of Iraq with continued misery for its working people. According to one union representative, Abdullah Muhsin of the General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW), "Eight years have ended since the fall of Saddam's regime, yet the empty promises of the 'liberators' - the invaders and the occupiers who promised Iraqis heaven and earth - were simply lies, lies and lies."

Falah Alwan, president of the Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq, says violence directed against workers and unions is intended to keep a lid on protests against miserable living conditions. "We are still under occupation," he charges. "The new Iraqi army, created by the US occupation, is doing the same job, protecting the corrupt government while we are suffering from the difficulties of daily life."

"There's no electricity most of the time and no drinking water - no services at all," says Qasim Hadi, president of the Union of Unemployed of Iraq (UUI). Eight years after the start of the US military intervention, "there's hardly even any repair of the war damage - there's still rubble in the streets. People are going hungry."

http://www.truth-out.org/for-iraqs-unemployed-nothing-has-changed-eight-years68633