Five hurt as jobless Iraqis clash with Spanish troops

Five people were injured Tuesday in clashes pitting hundreds of jobless people against Spanish soldiers serving in the US-led coalition and Iraqi policemen in the central Shiite city of Najaf, police said.
"Two policemen, a Spanish soldier and an unemployed man were hurt in the clashes, which started when hundreds of jobless people attacked the governorate building and police cars with rocks," Lieutenant Colonel Abdul Hassan Nasser told AFP.
The demonstrators also burnt tyres, and two police cars were damaged.
Police arrested 30 demonstrators who were armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles, said General Ibrahim Mohammed, head of the police station in Najaf. A total of 1,300 Spanish troops are deployed in central Iraq.
Najaf and several southern towns have already witnessed a number of demonstrations by unemployed people. The jobless rate is estimated at 50 percent nation-wide.