Iraqi Kurdish ministers resign amid violent protests

Two political parties have withdrawn from Iraq's Kurdish regional government amid street protests over delayed salaries, poor services and rampant corruption, a Kurdish lawmaker said today.
Thousands of Kurds have taken to the streets in recent days in Sulaimaniyah, a stronghold of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, torching tires and attacking the offices of political parties. Security forces have used tear gas and fired live rounds to disperse stone-throwing demonstrators, and have imposed curfews in some areas.
At least two people were killed and 80 wounded in clashes in the nearby town of Rania, according to Mayor Hiwa Qarani. Iraqi state TV said fresh demonstrations erupted in Rania today.

The Kurdish government "lacks legitimacy in the eyes of the citizens, who demand its resignation," Sarwa Abdul-Wahid, who leads the Change Party bloc in the Iraqi parliament in Baghdad, told The Associated Press from Sulaimaniyah.
Abdul-Wahid said three ministers from the Change Party and two from the Islamic Group Party have left the 21-minister Cabinet. The Change Party-affiliated regional parliament speaker and the head of the Board of Investment will also resign, she added.
Abdul-Wahid accused the security forces affiliated with the PUK, one of the two largest Kurdish parties, of attacking the protesters and arresting "hundreds" of them.
"Sulaimaniyah has become a military camp for the Patriotic Union where they have deployed all their forces in the cities and towns to suppress the demonstrations," she said. "For every protester there are two security members."

Both the PUK and its main rival, the Kurdish Democratic Party, have faced mounting anger in the wake of September's independence referendum, which set off a major crisis with the central government in Baghdad. The vote for independence was approved by more than 90 per cent of Kurds but rejected by Baghdad and Iraq's neighbors.