[Note: The following e-mails from Doug Pritchard and Michele Naar-Obed describe the how the recent changes in Tunisia and Egypt are affecting the Kurdish North of Iraq, where the Iraq team works.]

Thursday, 17 February 2011

Hi all

You may have heard about the recent riot and deaths in Suleimaniyah (see http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/02/17/iraq.protests.)

I have talked to the team and everyone is well. Marius van Hoogstraten and Allan Slater were at a demo of 3,000 people which ended peacefully and those attending were dismissed… After the demo, Marius and Allan went off for some tea. In the meantime, a group of 200 demonstrators left as a block and attacked the KDP party headquarters and were fired on by Peshmerga militia defending the building.  When Marius and Allan came out on the street there was gunfire in the distance and ambulances everywhere.  … It seems around ten people were killed and dozens injured.  A 7:00 p.m. curfew has been imposed but is being ignored. It is not clear who organized the original demo, nor who initiated the attack on the KDP building. The team is trying to learn more from our NGO partners and will discern what role we might play from here.

 There is also similar unrest in other parts of Iraq (Hawler, Dohuk, Mosul, Kut, Falluja, etc.). These demos appear to be spontaneous and not coordinated but focus on similar complaints about corruption, unemployment, insecurity, etc.

 Doug Pritchard

Friday, 18 February 2011

Hello all,

As you can see by Doug's email, things are a little tense here.  Actually, things are pretty tense throughout all of Iraq.  People are tired of corruption, lack of services, jobs etc.  The call for change has been in the air for quite some time now in the KRG [Kurdistan Regional Government].  The Gorran list, headed by Nawshirwan Mustafa, has been a real thorn in the side of the PUK/KDP ruling parties.  Mustafa came out of the PUK party.  He's a pretty smart guy and the Gorran list has developed quite a following.  During the last KRG Parliament election, Gorran won quite a few seats.  They won a fair number of seats in the National election as well.  Since they've been in Parliament, they have made a number of issues transparent to the people.  The biggest was making the budget transparent, which has really pointed to corruption on the part of the two ruling parties.  This year, the unrest has been growing and with the events in Tunisia and Egypt, the pot has really been stirred.

  Last week, Gorran called for the step-down of the KRG Parliament in a public address to the people.  This was answered with big threats from the PUK/KDP who said they would use every means possible to stop the Gorran people from making such statements.  The next day, two military tanks were placed in front of a large hotel building that is under construction in the city of Suleimaniya.  This was apparently done to intimidate people from having any demonstrations.  The tanks stayed there for two days.  The act became an embarrassment to the PUK/KDP.

 Two days ago, we got a call from one of our partners who said there was a man at the city center who was fed up with the government and threatened to set himself on fire.  Within an hour or so, he was taken off.  Some say the Security Police got him and kept him from burning himself.  Others say Mustafa talked him out of it.  Yesterday was the day of the big demonstration in Suleimaniya that ended in chaos, injury, and death.  First, we heard that the demonstration was not permitted and that it was likely called by the Communist Party.  The Communist and the Islamic Union Parties were both present.  At the high point of the demonstration, there might have been about 3000 people present.  Traffic was not blocked and there was no real presence of police.  At some point towards the end of the demonstration, a group of people broke off and headed towards the KDP headquarters, which is maybe a fifteen-minute walk from the city center where the demonstration took place.  Shots were fired, people were running, and ambulances arrived.  Salim Street, the main street heading out of the city center, was blocked off.

 Throughout the evening, we were hearing reports that up to nine people were killed and dozens wounded.  At 7:00 p.m., the city was under curfew until 7:00 this morning.  During the night, the Gorran headquarters in four cities throughout the KRG were said to be looted and set on fire.

  The events…are still pretty muddy.  A few facts have surfaced.  The demonstration was called by a group called Civilian Defenders Network. This may not be the exact title but this is the closest translation from Kurdish to English that I could get.  The demonstration was, in fact, permitted.  The group got permission from the Suleimaniya Governor.  Here's where the rest gets muddy. Some say a group looking for a fight made their way down to the KDP headquarters.  The group might have been a few hundred people.  Some say this group broke into the building and started destroying computers and furniture.  Others say they started throwing rocks.  Some say that the first people to go to the KDP building were actually paid to do this by the KDP.  Supposedly, they led the larger group of 200 to 300, provoking the group to throw rocks and storm the building and then took off before the shooting started.  Nobody has said who ordered the KDP headquarter guards to start shooting and there has been no insinuation that the protesters had weapons.  This morning a Special Forces anti-terrorism unit from Erbil arrived in Suleimaniya.  At present, they are at the Furmandy base, which is close to the Suleimaniya airport.  They are supposedly here to guard the KDP building.  The Gorran people are demanding that they return back to Erbil. The Gorran people are also demanding an emergency Parliament session and they are demanding that the guards who shot into the crowd are brought to the court for a full investigation.

  In the end, it seems that one person died.  He was fourteen years old.  About forty have been wounded.  Most of them are teenagers to mid twenties.  Nawshirwan Mustafa has denounced the shootings. He continues to call for nonviolence.  Today, thousands of people went to the Gorran headquarters to stop any further attempts at looting or arson.  Mustafa announced that if one person went to protect the building with a gun, he would step down from the Gorran list.  So that's what we know or don't know for now.  It's possible that the truth will not be made known any time soon… Change is still in the air but nobody knows how it will come about.  If the mud ever clears up, we'll send you a clean glass of water.  Until then, we'll keep you updated if any more major events occur. Peace, Michele