4-01-05, 9:09 am

Iraqi workers affiliated with the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU) took to the streets of Basrah last Saturday in support of a group of that city's university students who were attacked two weeks ago by religious extremists connected to the so-called Mahdi Army.

The 200,000 member IFTU stated: 'The IFTU marched in support of the students believing that it is important to publicly demonstrate that the condemnation of the savage attacks comes not only from young people, but from workers in Basrah.'

IFTU's representatives said that the union supported students who sought to build and defend an Iraqi civil society that provided full civil and political rights.
IFTU demanded punishment for the attackers and the removal of the 'unviersity security' offices that the attackers use at the university to watch for religious and political deviations.

'IFTU supports a democratic Iraq and opposes any political or social repression reminiscent of the movement of the Taliban,' the largest umbrella organization of labor unions in Iraq concluded.

IFTU is supporting a petition from the General Union of Students in the Iraqi Republic (GUSIR) condemning these vile acts and will be circulating copies for supporters to sign shortly.

The student union along with other youth organizations and community organizations participated in several three-day long mass demonstrations at the university and at Basrah's government offices. The demonstrations were broken up violently by police.

The protests were held to demand justice for a number of students from Basrah University's Engineering College who were attacked by Mahdi militiamen, carrying clubs and guns, during a picnic at a local park.

Hooded men attacked male and female students with rubber cables, guns, and clubs. One Armenian woman student lost an eye due to a beating with a club. She was beaten and stripped. Another male student, attempting to come to her aid, was shot and killed. Witnesses say the hooded attackers were members of the Mahdi militia, an organization associated with Moktada al-Sadr, a religious leader whose militia clashed with US forces in Najaf in April 2004. Sadr's 'uprising' was reigned in by other Muslim clerics led notably by the Ayatollah al-Sistani whose political coalition won a majority of seats in Iraq's National Assembly elections.

Students’ belongings, such as jewelry, mobile phones, cameras, stereo players and loudspeakers, were stolen or smashed to pieces by the militiamen. Female students not wearing headscarves (some of whom are not Muslim) were severely beaten, and at least 20 students were kidnapped, taken to Sadr's office in Al-Tuwaisa for 'interrogation' and were only released late at night.

Local government officials have agreed to allow al-Sadr's organization to 'punish' those responsible and so far have refused to bring them to courts. Students who organized the demonstrations have stated that the Basrah government is strongly tied to the political coalition to which al-Sadr and his followers belong.

Local police in the vicinity during the attack refused to help.

A spokesperson for al-Sadr justified the actions of the militiamen in a television interview. He stated that the Mahdi Army 'believers' did what they did in an act of 'divine intervention' in order to punish the students for their 'immoral and outrageous behavior' during a religious holiday.