BASRA, 6 October 2003 — British and US troops clashed yesterday with hundreds of former soldiers of Saddam Hussein’s army demanding compensation for loss of their jobs.
British soldiers fired rubber bullets to disperse hundreds of former soldiers who hurled rocks and set tires ablaze in the southern city of Basra.
The protesters gathered early yesterday after a British soldier shot dead an armed man in Basra the previous day during clashes with Iraqis who had gathered to collect redundancy payments for being laid off from the Iraqi army. Ex-soldiers also clashed with US troops for a second day in Baghdad near a payment center where they are given their $40 compensation for losing their jobs. Around 200 Iraqi men confronted American soldiers, shouting and waving their fists, before being pushed back away from the area.
Violent protests erupted on Saturday at payment centers in Baghdad, Basra and the town of Hilla. Iraq’s US-led administration said supporters of Saddam fuelled the unrest by spreading rumors there was not enough money to pay everyone.
Locals in Basra said five people had been wounded yesterday by rubber bullets. Iraqi police arrived to help quell the violence and fired in the air, but fled to a nearby university building after running out of bullets, chased by the crowd. Mohammed Jasim Abboud, one of the protesters, said former soldiers needed jobs and money.
“We’ve had no wages for a while now,” he said. “We want our rights like everyone else.” The US-led administration in Iraq disbanded the country’s army in May, sparking several angry demonstrations by soldiers who said they faced destitution in a country whose economy has been battered by war and years of dictatorship and sanctions.
Meanwhile, the US military has deployed five teams of 10 airborne snipers to defend Iraq’s northern oil pipelines from acts of sabotage by forces loyal to Saddam. Sgt. Brian Stinson said final modifications were being made to Blackhawk UH-60 helicopters before snipers from the elite Tiger Force could begin patrols along the crucial oil supply lines.
