Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi paid a visit on Monday to the southern province of Dhi Qar where he chaired a regular cabinet meeting.
The province, which lies some 390 kilometers south of Baghdad, suffers from poor services and high poverty and unemployment. It has been a flashpoint for the year-long anti-government protests.
The premier’s press office said Kadhimi toured the region to inspect the state of security and services there and address obstacles facing their improvement.
Observers said the PM sought through the visit to ease the simmering popular anger there by making pledges about improving services, providing job opportunities and kicking off long stalled projects.
He held talks with various tribal, societal and official figures, underlining the extent of the federal authority’s concern over the developments and state of neglect in Dhi Qar.
During the cabinet meeting, Kadhimi declared that the situation in the province demands “serious government efforts”.
“We are determined to take decisions that favor the province and its people,” he stressed.
Special attention must be dedicated to Nasiriyah city where projects can be launched and job opportunities provided, he added.
Ministers must exert more efforts to ensure that decisions taken over Dhi Qar are implemented, he urged.
A government spokesman said the cabinet approved a number of decisions related to Nasiriyah airport, establishing main highways and a reconstruction fund and speeding up the completion of the industrial city.
Kadhimi also paid a visit to the Martyrs’ Bridge on the Euphrates River that connects the western and southern parts of Nasiriyah. The bridge was the scene of violent clashes between anti-government protesters and security forces.
He met with a number of families of slain protesters, offering his condolences and pledging to meet their demands.
A statement from the PM’s office said Kadhimi stressed to the families that his government will forge ahead in its mission to “safeguard the rights of the martyrs, bring the murderers to justice, press ahead with reform and crack down on corruption.”
Despite these pledges, Kadhimi’s government has yet to arrest any of these murderers and it has yet to announce the results of investigations into violence against the protesters, raising doubts among the demonstrators about the seriousness of its measures.
The security forces have yet to also release kidnapped activist Sajjad al-Iraqi, who was abducted three weeks ago on the outskirts of Nasiriyah.
