Iraq Government Starts Crackdown On Protests – Joel Wing – MUSINGS ON IRAQ

MESOPOTAMIA NEWS :  THE BURNING SITUATION IN SOUTH IRAQ

18 Jul 2018 09:51 AM PDT – Night protest in Baghdad’s Shula (Iraq Newspaper) 
As Iraq reached its 11^th day of protests there were events in six provinces. The real news of the day however was with the Abadi government, which promised new programs to meet the demands of the demonstrators, while starting a crackdown on activists.

People came out into the streets in Baghdad, Basra, Dhi Qar, Karbala, Muthanna, and Najaf. In the capital, there was talkof huge demonstrations, which did not materialize. At the start of the day there were two gatherings in Tahrir Square and Shula, and then people went home. At night, when the temperature went down there was a new march of around 300 in Shula. Police were given ordersto arrest all demonstrators, and forcibly broke up the protesters with 1 killed. In Basra, people came out to the Siba gas field, the provincial council building in Basra city, and the Um Qasr port. Someone also blew up an electricity tower serving the West Qurna oil field with an IED. There were protestsin severalareasof Dhi Qar that included the main highway to Baghdad being shut down with burning tires, one in Karbala city, one in Muthanna, and one in Najafwhere people tried to storm a Badr office. A protester that was shot yesterday also died in Karbala bringing the total death count to 16 since the daily demonstrations began.  Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=96857