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The provincial "governor escaped through a back door with his bodyguards....Footage broadcast on Iraqi television showed black smoke billowing from the headquarters as protesters clambered over walls into the compound. Other members of the provincial council also reportedly escaped, and the Iraqi army was called in to quell the turmoil."
They rushed reinforcements to the city, blocked its entrances, and prevented people in surrounding areas from joining demonstrators. Several government buildings were set ablaze, including the governorate's main administration one and the governor's official residence.
Unrest was also reported in Afak in neighboring Diwaniyah province, where demonstrators stormed a building housing the local city council, setting it afire. Several killings and numerous injuries were reported there and elsewhere, including at gatherings of lawyers, judges, students, oil workers and others voicing specific complaints.
Political analyst Ibrahim Sumaiedi called outbreaks "very dangerous. Society is divided along ethnic and sectarian lines, and everyone is armed. If this (spreads), we will face not reform or change but something far more devastating, because there are a lot of weapons in Iraq." In Yemen also, heightening the chance for greater violence.
Anticipation is now building for February 25, called a "Revolution of Iraqi Rage," a month after the Facebook-organized "Day of Rage" that toppled Mubarak. Numerous groups urge Iraqis to take to the streets that day to protest. What began localized potentially could spread and engulf the entire country, despite low Internet access unlike Egypt. However, once protests erupt, they gain momentum of their own.
Striking Egyptians Persist
Ignoring military council prohibitions, tens of thousands across the country demand higher pay, better working conditions, and corrupt officials purged. In Mahall al-Kubra, Egypt's largest industrial center, 12,000 workers struck the Misr Spinning and Weaving factory, wanting their grievances addressed.
In Damietta, 6,000 textile workers continued their walkout at the company's facility south of Cairo, also for similar demands. Across Cairo, Alexandria, Qaliubiya, and the Suez Canal area, strikes and protests continued. In Port Said, 1,000 demonstrated, demanding closure of a chemical factory polluting a local lake. At Ismailiya, irrigation, education and health ministry workers want higher wages and other grievances redressed.
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