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Reporter's Notebook: Navigating Threats in Iraqi Kurdistan

Rebaz Majeed

   SULAYMANIYAH, IRAQI KURDISTAN - Crouching behind the smoke of a burning
   tire left by anti-government protesters, I tried to shoot a photo of
   the approaching security forces. As they moved closer, one member of
   the security forces spotted the camera in my hand, pointed a baton at
   me and shouted, "Move that camera or I will cut your throat!"

   In many parts of the world, threatening to cut the throat of a
   journalist might sound like dark humor, but where I report, it is a
   dark reality.

   On that day, street demonstrations in Sulaymaniyah were ongoing --
   again. Protests against the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) happen
   periodically as economic crises rise and abate while leaders of the
   autonomous Kurdish region argue about oil with the central Iraqi
   government.

   In the past year, public employees, the overwhelming majority of wage
   earners in the region, have not received paychecks, or, they have seen
   pay or pensions decrease amid economic mismanagement. With residents
   frustrated at the political establishment in the region and public
   workers demanding unpaid salaries, thousands stormed the streets this
   month to demand change.

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