Gunmen raided and set fire to a television station in northern Iraq today, shutting down broadcasts of protests inspired by unrest around the Arab world, station and government officials said.
At least four people were wounded in the city of Sulaimaniya as hundreds of protesters took to the streets. Rallies seeking better public services, the ouster of local officials and other demands also took place in Falluja and other locations.
In Baghdad, the cabinet decided to have ministers visit demonstrators to soothe anger over corruption, shortages of food and electricity and other issues behind a series of protests that have triggered skirmishes with security forces.
Unlike their regional counterparts, Iraqi protesters generally have not been calling for the removal of their elected government, installed just two months ago after months of tense negotiations between political factions. Saddam Hussein was swept away by the US-led invasion in 2003.
The overnight raid on NRT satellite channel in Sulaimaniya was carried out by 50 masked gunmen wearing security force uniforms who sprayed the station with gunfire, smashed equipment, wounded a guard and lit fires, Twana Othman, the station's manager, said.
NRT aired coverage of violent protests in Sulaimaniya last week.
Bahrouz Mohammed, the local governor, condemned the attack and promised to bring the perpetrators to justice. "Those saboteurs who attacked the TV station are trying undermine stability in Sulaimaniya," he said in a statement.
In central Sulaimaniya, a police official said security forces fired in the air when demonstrators chanting against corruption tried to approach the headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, where clashes on Thursday killed two people and wounded dozens.
Hazar Hasan, head of a hospital in Sulaimaniya, said the facility received four wounded from the rally.
In the western city of Falluja, about 300 protesters demanded the firing of the governor and provincial council members in Anbar province. Dozens of people rallied for jobs in the southern province of Nassiriya, Abdul Hadi Mohan, deputy head of the provincial council, said.
In recent days Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has moved to soothe anger by cutting his pay, reducing electricity bills, buying more sugar for the national food ration programme and diverting money from fighter jets to food.
Reuters