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A10 WORLD NEWS
Tuesday 5 November 2019
At least 5 protesters killed in new round of clashes in Iraq

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA then placed an Iraqi flag
MURTADA FARAJ on the wall. The protesters
Associated Press chanted, "The people want
BAGHDAD (AP) — Anti-gov- the fall of the regime!" one
ernment protesters crossed of the main slogans of the
a major bridge in Baghdad 2011 Arab Spring uprisings.
on Monday, approaching Iraq's Foreign Ministry con-
the prime minister's office demned the attack on the
and the headquarters of consulate, saying the secu-
Iraq's state-run TV, as secu- rity of diplomatic missions is
rity forces fired live ammu- a "red line that should not
nition and tear gas, killing be crossed."
at least five demonstrators On Sunday, Abdul-Mahdi
and wounding dozens. called for markets, facto-
The protesters hurled rocks ries, schools and universi-
and set tires and dumpsters ties to reopen, saying the
ablaze, sending clouds of threat to oil facilities and
black smoke into the air. the closing of roads had
Security forces flooded into cost the country billions of
the area to protect govern- dollars and contributed to
ment buildings, and gunfire price increases that affect
echoed through the streets. everyone.
Dozens of motorized rick- He differentiated between
shaws raced back and Anti-government protests set fire while security forces fired live ammunition and tear gas near the peaceful protesters who
forth, ferrying the wounded state-run TV in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Nov. 4, 2019. have turned the demon-
to first aid stations at the Associated Press strations into "popular fes-
main protest site in Tahrir since Oct. 25, calling for Police and hospital officials dition of anonymity in line tivals" and "outlaws" who
Square. For days, the pro- the overthrow of the gov- said that at least five dem- with regulations. he said had used demon-
testers have been trying ernment and sweeping onstrators and a member The protesters have increas- strators as "human shields"
to cross the Tigris River to political change. The pro- of the security forces were ingly directed their anger while attacking security
the heavily fortified Green tests are fueled by anger killed and that 60 people at Iran, which has close ties forces.
Zone, where the govern- at widespread corruption, were wounded. They spoke to the government, Shiite Iran and its allies have ac-
ment is headquartered. high unemployment and on condition of anonymity political factions and para- cused the U.S. and other
Security forces have fired poor public services. because they were not au- military groups. foreign powers of manipu-
tear gas and rubber bullets Security forces have killed thorized to talk to reporters. During Sunday night's vio- lating the protests to sow
to push them back from more than 260 people in Overnight, Iraqi security lence in Karbala, dozens chaos.
barricades on the Al-Joum- two waves of protests since forces shot and killed three of Iraqi protesters set tires Qais al-Khazali, the leader
houriyah and Al-Sanak early October. protesters and wounded 19 ablaze. They scaled the of one of Iraq's most pow-
Bridges, but they managed The latest clashes came in dispersing a violent dem- concrete barriers ringing erful Iranian-backed Shiite
to break through on the Al- a day after Prime Minister onstration outside the Ira- the consulate as others militias, said in an interview
Ahrar Bridge farther north. Adel Abdul-Mahdi called nian Consulate in the Shiite lobbed firebombs over the aired on Iraqi TV that the
Tens of thousands of Iraqis on the protesters to reopen holy city of Karbala, police walls. They tried to bring U.S., Israel, some Arab Gulf
have demonstrated in cen- streets and for life to return officials said. Seven police- down the Iranian flag and nations and local officials
tral Baghdad and across to normal. His office is just men were also wounded, replace it with the Iraqi one are working to "incite strife
mostly Shiite southern Iraq outside the Green Zone. they said, speaking on con- but could not reach it. They and chaos" in Iraq.q

Radical Pakistani cleric continues sit-in; PM won’t resign

By KATHY GANNON testers' demands, saying when the protest would
Associated Press he won't be driven from end. Bilal Bhutto-Zardari,
ISLAMABAD (AP) — A radi- power. But he has allowed the co-leader of the left-
cal Pakistani cleric, who Rahman's rally to go on, leaning Pakistan People's
galvanized tens of thou- provided it remain in its party, once led by the late
sands of followers to march designated area. Benazir Bhutto, has said his
on Islamabad, met Mon- The firebrand cleric deliv- party will not join Rehman
day with opposition politi- ered a late-night speech in the sit-in. While his party
cians and agreed to con- Monday before a crowd of supports Rehman's call
tinue their sit-in even after thousands, saying the op- for Khan to resign, it is not
a deadline he imposed for position had agreed the ready to take part in the sit-
the prime minister to resign sit-in should continue, but in, he said, without elabo-
passed without Imran Khan that no other action was rating.
stepping down. agreed upon. That includes Rehman has come under
Maulana Fazlur Rehman's following through on Rehm- attack by human rights ac-
followers, many of them Firebrand cleric Maulana Fazlur Rehman, center, and head of an's threats to have pro- tivists who have criticized
students of his religious the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party waves to his supporters during testers march on the so- his fiery speeches as well as
schools, started out last an anti-government march, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, called Red Zone, which is his refusal to allow women
week from the southern Nov. 3, 2019. home to Pakistan's govern- at his protest march. Even
port city of Karachi, march- Associated Press ment, the prime minister's women journalists were
ing to Islamabad where three days. mands the government residence and foreign em- barred from the rallies until
they have since camped Rehman accuses Khan of follow radical Islamic laws. bassies. Rehman said the an outcry forced him to re-
out on the city's outskirts for bad governance and de- Khan has ignored the pro- opposition would decide lent. q