Iraq Attacks Kill Nine as Maliki Says Protesters Causing “Chaos”

Nine people were killed on Thursday morning as bombings and shootings rocked the capital and a restive province north Baghdad, as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki warned that anti-government protesters were causing chaos.

In Baghdad, a car bomb at 8:00 am (0500 GMT) killed at least three people and wounded 11 others near a police station in the neighborhood of Hurriyah, officials said.

A series of separate shootings and bombings in Diyala province killed six people and wounded six others.
The victims included an army officer gunned down inside his house and two guards of Diyala University’s president killed in bomb blasts as they were escorting him in a convoy.

Earlier on Wednesday, Maliki accused anti-government protesters who have blocked off a key trade route for two weeks of causing “chaos”.

In a speech in central Baghdad marking the 91st anniversary of the founding of Iraq’s police force, Maliki said security forces could intervene to end the protests, which have swept provinces in western and northern Iraq since December 23, but also renewed an offer to consider some of the demonstrators’ demands.

“Freedom for those who do not understand its meaning is chaos and the law of the jungle,” Maliki said.
“There is a difference between a peaceful rally and an act of disobedience, and blocking off a highway.

“Freedom is not when a media outlet turns into a means of juggling and inciting riots and accusing this or that official and offending this or that constituent,” he added.

Maliki continued: “There is no country in the world that tolerates a blockade of highways.”