Kirkuk protest organizer detained on eve of second rally, family says

KIRKUK — Security forces on Thursday detained Mohammed Nizam, a Kirkuk lawyer who organized a protest in the city center last week, a day before he and other residents planned to protest again, his uncle told 964media.

Nizam, 30, led a protest last Friday at the roundabout outside Kirkuk’s old governorate building, bringing young people, older residents and women into the street to demand their rights. The group had planned to gather there again Friday.

Ahmed Karim, Nizam’s maternal uncle, said several vehicles belonging to the National Security Service, Iraq’s domestic security agency, pulled up outside the family’s home in the Arafa neighborhood. The officers asked Nizam to go with them to the service, Karim said, but they had no arrest warrant.

“My nephew, the son of a martyr, gains nothing from this protest,” Karim said. “He did it only to support citizens and people who have been denied their rights.”

Nizam, who also runs a real estate office, is married with two children. His father, an officer, was killed in 2005, and Nizam grew up without him.

At last Friday’s protest, which brought together Kurdish, Arab and Turkmen residents, Nizam told 964media that people were struggling with fuel shortages and unemployment despite living in one of Iraq’s major oil-producing cities.

“I live in a city with oil beneath my feet. Why can’t I get gasoline easily? Why is there a fuel crisis?” Nizam said.

“Why should we become victims of your political disputes and rivalries?” he said. “They steal the oil and send it to Turkey and other countries. Why don’t they give it to their own citizens?”

He also criticized the lack of jobs for local residents, saying young people were struggling to make a living. Iraqis were working as delivery drivers for 15,000 dinars (about $8.90 at the street rate) a day, he said, while foreign workers at oil companies earned far more.

The service has not commented on the detention.

Kirkuk has seen protests over private generator prices since Sunday, and security forces detained at least four protesters on the first night, 964media correspondents reported.