Anti-government protests escalate in Iraq: 1 dead, 6 wounded

BAGHDAD (AP) - Iraqi security forces fired live ammunition and used tear gas Wednesday to disperse demonstrators in Baghdad, killing one person and wounding six in renewed protests after violent confrontations between protesters and police a day earlier, officials said.

Protests on Tuesday had left two dead _ one in Baghdad and another in the city of Nasiriyah _ and over 200 wounded.

On Wednesday, hundreds of heavily armed security forces and riot police deployed on Baghdad streets, blocking all intersections leading to a major central square to prevent larger protests. Parked armored personnel carriers and SUVs stood guard and by mid-afternoon, residents said authorities had shut down social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp.

Despite the massive security dragnet, groups of protesters continued to take to the streets, some of them calling for toppling the government. Thick black smoke hung over the city as demonstrators set fire to tires and garbage containers. Bursts of gunfire could be heard intermittently.

The confrontations were some of the worst between protesters and security forces in Baghdad, signaling that the war-weary country could be facing a new round of political instability.

The protests, organized on social media, started in Tahrir Square on Tuesday, initially driven by economy woes. They began peacefully, calling for an end to corruption, improved basic services and more jobs. But they soon turned violent after security forces fought back demonstrators with water cannons, tear gas and live ammunition.

Protesters responded by calling for toppling the government, throwing stones at security forces and setting tires and trash containers on fire. At least two protesters were killed and more than 200 were wounded.

A few dozen protesters tried to reach Tahrir Square again on Wednesday morning but were met with scores of riot police who formed a human barrier and soldiers who blocked roads, sometimes with barbed wire. Security forces again fired tear gas and live ammunition into the air to disperse the protesters, chasing them away, according to officials.

A Health Ministry official said the person killed Wednesday was a 56-year-old man and that forensics were identifying the cause of death. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

The protests are the most serious challenge to Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi's nearly year-old government. The premier was holding a national security emergency meeting Wednesday, his office said.

Later in the day, Saadoun Street, a major commercial thoroughfare leading to Tahrir Square, was deserted and all the shops and restaurants were closed. Smoke could be seen near Tahrir and intermittent gunfire could be heard, as well as ambulance sirens.

“They have transformed Tahrir Square into Tahrir barracks,” said Hussein Saleh, 24.

“There are more security forces than there are protesters,” he added, standing with a small placard that read: “I am protesting to take my rights.”

Earlier in the morning, municipal workers were spraying Tahrir Square with water while bulldozers removed debris from Tuesday’s demonstrations. A bridge that leads from the square to Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone - home to government offices and foreign embassies - was closed.

Activists drove around in a car, distributing water to protesters and soldiers alike.

“We are not against you, you are our brothers,” one activist told a soldier as he offered him a cold bottle of water.

In Zaafaraniya, southeast of Baghdad, at least five people were treated for breathing difficulties after police used tear gas to break up a small protest. Police also used tear gas in al-Shaab, north of the Iraqi capital. Security officials said five people were arrested in al-Shaab and three in Zaafaraniya.

The protests appear to be spontaneous and without political leadership, organized by people on social media against corruption and lack of basic services, such as electricity and water.

Dozens of university graduates unable to find jobs in the corruption-plagued but oil-rich country also joined the rallies. Politicians denounced the violence and at least one, influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, called for an investigation.

There were similar confrontations elsewhere, including in the cities of Basra and Nasiriyah in the south. In Nasiriyah, about 320 kilometers (200 miles) southeast of Baghdad, one protester was killed on Tuesday and around 20 people were wounded, according to hospital officials.

Iraq’s interior and health ministries issued a joint statement saying one person was killed in Baghdad on Tuesday and 200 were wounded, including 40 members of the security forces.

The statement said authorities "regretted" the violence that accompanied the protests, blaming "a group of rioters" for inciting violence, while calling for calm and restraint.

The U.N. secretary-general’s special representative for Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, expressed “grave concern” over the violence at the demonstrations in Baghdad and elsewhere.

“Every individual has the right to speak freely, in keeping with the law,” she said in a statement, urging authorities to exercise restraint in their handling of the protests.

The Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights called for restraint and said freedom of expression should be protected. It said 11 people were arrested in Basra and 30 in the Waset Province south of Baghdad on Tuesday.

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Associated Press writers Murtada Faraj and Ali Abdul-Hassan in Baghdad and Zeina Karam in Beirut contributed to this report.