Halabja, Iraq: Hundreds of Kurdish protesters destroyed a memorial to the 1988 gas attack in the town of Halabja yesterday, setting the museum ablaze on the 18th anniversary of the deaths of 5,000 local people.

A hospital official said one man was shot dead in the violence, which erupted when a gathering to commemorate the attack turned into a protest over poor local services.

A local journalist said he saw police and Kurdish Peshmerga militiamen fire warning shots to disperse the protesters as they stormed the one-storey, circular museum that serves as a potent reminder of the 1988 attack.

"We have received one body and eight wounded people," said a doctor in Halabja's Malabar hospital. The doctor said the dead man was 19 years old.

Immediately after the riot, Kurdish security forces sealed off the town and confiscated video tapes from some journalists.

Halabja synonymous with atrocities against civilians that are blamed on Saddam Hussain is a small town about 260 km northeast of Baghdad in Kurdistan, the largely autonomous region which has its own government.

The violence could be embarrassing for Kurdish leaders, who have managed to keep the Kurdish north stable while a raging insurgency and a wave of sectarian violence has swept the rest of the country.

As the protest erupted, Kurdish leaders were in Baghdad for the opening of parliament three months after it was elected in December. Hajem Al Hassani, the outgoing speaker of parliament, called for a moment's silence to commemorate the Halabja attack.

"The Kurdish government exploited Halabja to draw world attention to the plight of the Kurds and get donations that have never reached us," one angry protester said. Witnesses said residents had gathered outside the museum to remember the attack but began shouting angrily when Shahu Mohammad Saed, a representative of the Kurdish government, appeared.

Better or worse?

Iraqis ponder life after Saddam

Approaching the third anniversary of the US invasion that toppled Saddam Hussain, reporters asked Iraqis: "Is your life better or worse than under Saddam?" This is what some of them said:

  • "Every day I feel like I am waiting in a queue for death," said a Baghdad lawyer.
  • "In terms of security, life before was much better," said businessman Adel Hussain, 45, in Basra. "But economically, now it's much better."
  • In Kirkuk, labourer Ali Salman said: "Before the war ... torture and killing took place in secret. Now it's all in public. The meaning of freedom is different: Nowadays you're free to live. And free to kill."
  • "Where is the new democracy? Why is this happening to us?" asked Hamad Farhan Abdullah, 57, a farmer from the south of Baghdad who came to the city morgue looking for the body of his nephew, who he feared had fallen victim to death squad killers.
  • "The ghost of death chases us everywhere," said Thana'a Esmail, a 45-year-old teacher from Diwaniya. "I have cancer and need treatment in Baghdad but security has got worse and I've had to skip some sessions."
  • "Life has no meaning at the moment and our fate is unknown," said Na'im Kadum, a 33-year-old unemployed man from Diwaniya. "I don't see any improvement and I am pessimistic."
  • "If the percentage of the good life was one per cent before, it is zero per cent now," Salim Mahmoud, 46, said gloomily as he sold tea and coffee near a Baghdad restaurant.
  • "It was better under Saddam. Now we have chaos and we have lost our security. Our country is in a big mess now," said Baghdad housewife Kareema Hussain, 46.
  • "Security, and life in general, was better under Saddam's regime," said housewife Hameeda Hussain as she went shopping in Najaf.
  • "The situation was better under Saddam, at least I could walk at night and go to other provinces. Now, we can't move about freely," said Talib Mousa, 30, as he sold chocolate on a Baghdad street.
  • "After the war we were introduced to new concepts like human rights and democracy. But on the ground we haven't seen them yet. We need security," said Abdul Kareem Ahmad, a 50-year-old driver in Basra.
  • "Before, people feared prison. Now people fear everything. Even in your own house you can't feel safe or trust your neighbour," said Basra housewife Umm Ahmad, 35.
  • "Generally everything was better before. Now there is chaos. Every month there are delays in delivering food rations, fuel shortages, a huge rise in prices and deteriorating security," said Kawla Hachim, 35, a housewife in Kirkuk.
  • "The situation in Iraq is miserable. No one can guarantee their security when they go out. This didn't happen when Saddam was there," said Najat Hamid, a 32-year-old woman in Karbala.
  • "Life after Saddam is better," said Emad Ahmad, 45, a technician from Arbil, capital of largely autonomous Kurdistan, which has escaped much of the violence in the rest of Iraq. "Job opportunities have increased for me and for many others."
  • "Before the war, life was better because all Iraqis, including Kurds, shared the same enemy," television anchorwoman Sara Abdul Wahid, 36, from the Kurdish city of Dohuk, said of Saddam. "Now there is more than one and we can't differentiate between friend and foe."
  • "Before, we didn't earn enough to meet the cost of living, but now we have more than enough. Despite the deterioration in security, I think we are better off today," said Ali Al Sharifi, 29, a government employee in Najaf.
  • "I used to leave for work without worrying. Nowadays if I get back home with no harm I just thank God for that," said Ali Jassem, a 55-year-old salesman in Ramadi.
  • "What has the current government done for Iraqis? While they have been protecting themselves behind concrete walls, people are bleeding. Saddam was better than these selfish people," said Ahmad Abdul Hussain, 39, a labourer in Karbala.