IRAQ: The dismissal of Iraqi oil minister Ibrahim Bahr Ulum and his replacement by Ahmad Chalabi, the head of the country's energy council, is widely seen as a temporary measure designed to project governmental unity over deeply unpopular rises in the prices of petroleum products.
Mr Ulum said he was fired because he opposed the sudden price rises adopted in mid-December because they harm the poorest sectors of Iraqi society. But an Iraqi oil expert said Mr Ulum was removed because he had attempted to "sign some deals" committing the incoming full-term government to specific arrangements which benefited himself and certain companies.
However, Dr Chalabi is unlikely to restore public confidence in an oil ministry widely regarded as inefficient and corrupt. Dr Chalabi, a former CIA operative, is a fugitive from justice in Jordan where he was tried and sentenced to a prison term for embezzlement.
Since his Iraqi National Congress did not win any seats in the 275-seat national assembly in the December election, he will not be in the new cabinet and may be going abroad once it is formed.
In Iraq yesterday security forces shot dead four people protesting against the recent rise in fuel price, police said, after rioters set cars and petrol stations on fire near the northern oil city of Kirkuk.
In Rahinawa, near Kirkuk, security forces opened fire on young men as they marched down a main street protesting a lack of basic amenities and the doubling and tripling of prices for vehicle fuel and household gas 13 days ago, according to police.
At least four protesters were killed and two wounded, police captain Salaam Zangana said. A curfew was imposed. Police said it was unclear whether US or Iraqi forces fired.
In Baghdad, eight bombs exploded across the capital on New Year's morning, causing minor damage and only a handful of injuries.
