Around 4,000 demonstrators crowded a square in the centre of the Iraqi city of Sulaimaniyah on Tuesday, the latest protest against the dominance of two major parties in the Kurdish region. Iraqi officials have tried to head off nation-wide rallies by cutting the pay of ministers and MPs, hiking funds to buy food for the needy and delaying implementation of new import tariffs that would raise prices on goods.
But three young protesters have been killed and more than 100 wounded since Thursday in Sulaimaniyah, the second largest city in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, in demonstrations against corruption and the dominance of two parties. The banners of demonstrators in the city's Tahrir Square, or Liberation Square, on Tuesday read: "Don't Forget Hosni Mubarak," referring to Egypt's president ousted after mass protests in Cairo's own square of the same name. "We will continue our demonstrations until officials implement real change," said Kardo Karim, 35.
In a bid to prevent further violence, several of the demonstrators wore white shirts emblazoned with the words "Wall of Peace" and stood between the bulk of the protesters and security forces. Two protesters were killed on Thursday and another died on Sunday in Sulaimaniyah when security forces fired their weapons into the air in a bid to disperse rallies.
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