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| Iraq |
| Police in Basra open fire on demonstrators |
| 2010-06-20 |
| BASRA / Aswat al-Iraq: Police forces in Basra opened fire on Saturday targeting hundreds of demonstrators in central the city protesting lack of electricity. “Police random fires left a number of casualties,' an eyewitness told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. He noted that the forces are affiliated with the Basra Provincial Council. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #3 If we lost electricity, it wouldn't occur to me to take to the streets to protest... The Basra Provincial Council has had a lot of issues since its inception. It was intended to be the Western ideal of a secular, nonpartisan provincial government. Judging by past news reports, what it's ended up being is a circus of political inexperience, vulnerable to predations from both Baghdad and local Shiite power-brokers. They've tried to curb corruption, to the displeasure of both and their attempts at secularism (like permitting alcohol sales) have upset the latter. I suspect the demonstrations were called by the Shiite leadership. "Community organizing" at its finest donchaknow. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2010-06-20 14:50 |
| #2 Some western suburbs in Chicago lost power for two days after a storm earlier this week. Not a single riot as far as I know, though some people did have to fire up the Weber and grill a lot of meat ... |
| Posted by: Steve White 2010-06-20 14:02 |
| #1 If we lost electricity, it wouldn't occur to me to take to the streets to protest... |
| Posted by: American Delight 2010-06-20 12:26 |