Dinar Reporter (IQDUSD)

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Thousands protest over security in southern Iraqi city of Basra

BAGHDAD -- Thousands of people took to the streets Saturday in Basra, protesting deteriorating security in the southern city where Iraqi forces assumed responsibility for safety last December.

It was day of violence as well as political unrest in Iraq: Police in Diyala province northeast of Baghdad reported two separate bombings in which six people were killed, and officers also found 13 bullet-ridden bodies.
In Basra, Iraq's second-largest city and the urban center of an oil-rich region, Shiite groups have been wrestling for control.

Residents are becoming increasingly alarmed, saying that killings, kidnappings and other crimes have increased significantly since British forces turned over responsibility for Basra at the end of last year.
In February, two journalists working for CBS were kidnapped in the city. One was released but the other, a Briton, is still being held.

As many as 5,000 people demonstrated near the Basra police command headquarters Saturday, demanding that the police chief, Maj. Gen. Abdul-Jalil Khalaf, and the commander of joint military-police operation, Lt. Gen. Mohan al-Fireji, resign.

Many carried banners, decrying the killing of women, workers, academics and scientists. Dozens of women were slain in Basra by religious extremists last year because of how they dressed, their mutilated bodies found with notes warning against "violating Islamic teachings."

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http://yorkdispatch.inyork.com/yd/na...rld/ci_8502685