2nd LD-Writethru: 2 Kurdish parties withdraw from regional gov't amid protests

SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- Two Kurdish parties withdrew Wednesday from the government of the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan in northern Iraq amid widespread anger over unpaid salaries and corruption.

"The Kurdish Change Movement (Gorran) and the Islamic Group of Kurdistan (Komela) decided to withdraw from Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) headed by Nichervan Barzani," Abdul Razzaq Sharif, head of Gorran media office, told Xinhua.

The two parties' decision came after a meeting of their leaderships, in which they discussed the massive protests in some of the region's cities and towns that left many Kurdish people killed and wounded.

Kurdish Parliament Speaker Yousif Mohammed, from Gorran Movement, also decided to quit his post after a demand by his party.

Gorran Movement has four ministers in the KRG cabinet, while the Islamic Group has two.

The massive demonstrations continued for the third day in several cities and towns in Sulaimaniyah Province, including the town of Rania, witnesses at the scene said.

Earlier in the day, Gorran Movement issued a statement about the protests in the Kurdish region, saying the demonstrators were pushed by the failure of the regional government in facing the corruption and injustice during the past years.

"Resorting to demonstrations and protests in the streets of the cities and districts of the Kurdistan region is due to the failure of governance, monopoly, corruption," the movement said.

"We call upon the Peshmerga and Asayish (Kurdish security) forces and the police to maintain the security of demonstrations and not to take up arms against their sisters and brothers, and to take responsibility for protecting the lives and property of the citizens," the movement said.

On Tuesday, heavy casualties erupted in the town of Rania in Sulaimaniyah Province when the security forces opened fire and used tear gas after protesters torched offices of the Kurdish parties, leaving five people killed and some 80 others wounded.

Clashes also erupted in the city of Sulaimaniyah when the security forces fired rubber bullets and used tear gas to disperse the demonstrators, with people admitted to hospital for suffocation and rubber-bullet wounds.

Hundreds of Kurdish security forces were deployed in the provincial cities, while attempting to avoid clashes with protesters.

The protests were sparked by frustration over unpaid salaries to teachers and other civil servants, in addition to the deterioration of basic services and widespread corruption.

The provinces of the Kurdistan region have been suffering from financial and economic hardships as a result of disagreement with the federal government in Baghdad over distribution of crude oil revenues extracted from the northern oil fields.

The financial hardship has increased after the Iraqi forces retook control of the oil-rich province of Kirkuk and some other oil wells in the disputed areas on Oct. 16.

Tensions have been running high between Baghdad and the region of Kurdistan after the Kurds held a controversial referendum on the independence of the Kurdistan region and the disputed areas on Sept. 25.

The independence of Kurdistan has been fiercely opposed by the Iraqi central government. Enditem