Shots fired at Anti-Govt Protesters in Iraq, 42 killed

Iraqi police fired live shots into
the air as well as rubber bullets and dozens of tear gas canisters Friday to
disperse thousands of anti-government protesters, sending young demonstrators
running for cover and surrounding a main bridge in the capital Baghdad with
thick white smoke.

42 protesters were killed and
dozens were injured, security officials said.The confrontations began early in
the morning after anti-government demonstrations resumed, following a
three-week break.

The protests then spread to
several, mainly Shiite-populated southern provinces and authorities imposed a
curfew and shut down the internet for days in an effort to quell the unrest.

It also recommended the firing of
security chiefs in Baghdad and the south. Eight members of the security forces
were also killed.

The protests are similar to those
that have engulfed Lebanon in recent days in that they are economically driven,
largely leaderless and spontaneous against a sectarian-based system and a
corrupt political class that has ruled for decades and driven the two countries
to the edge of economic disaster.