Iraqi parliamentary committee urges Kurdish security forces to exercise restraint

BAGHDAD, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- An Iraqi parliamentary committee Thursday called on the Kurdish security forces to exercise restraint in response to protests in the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan in northern Iraq amid widespread anger over unpaid salaries and corruption.

"We call on the security forces in the Kurdistan region to exercise restraint and not to use excessive force against demonstrators," Abdul-Rahim al-Shimmary, head of the parliamentary human rights committee, said in a statement.

"We are following with great concern the developments in the Kurdistan region, and the demonstrators' protests demanding their rights that were guaranteed by the Iraqi constitution, including the right of peaceful demonstration," Shimmary said.

The massive demonstrations continued for the fourth day in the town of Rania in Sulaimaniyah province in northeastern Iraq, witnesses at the scene told Xinhua.

Rania was the scene of bloody clashes on Tuesday 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.

During the past four days, clashes erupted in several cities and towns in the province, including 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