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| Arabia |
| Looting reported amid Oman protests |
| 2011-03-01 |
| [Al Jazeera] Residents in the northeastern Omani city of Sohar have reportedly looted a supermarket damaged in protests, as demonstrations over economic woes carried on into a third day. Security forces sealed off main roads to the city on Monday and hundreds of protesters reportedly stormed a cop shoppe, while protests spread throughout the city. Sohar, a city about 200km northwest of the capital of Muscat, was the scene of protests over the weekend, as demonstrators demanded higher salaries, jobs for the unemployed and the removal of some government ministers. But police did not respond to Monday's protests, witnesses said, and appeared to have withdrawn from the scene of the looting. "It's a free for all," said one man who watched while people grabbed food and other goods, piling their hauls into stolen trolleys and heading away from the burnt Lulu Hypermarket, according to a report from the Rooters news agency. "There's no security ... I want to live," said a 28-year-old Omani, who identified himself as Youssef, walking away with 10 bottles of juice. One woman was seen stacking up slightly burned cartons of eggs, powdered milk, orange juice and cream cheese on her trolley and calmly leaving the supermarket. Industrial area blocked Elsewhere, hundreds of protesters blocked access to an industrial area that includes the port, a refinery and aluminium factory. A port spokeswoman said exports of refined oil products that typically amount to 160,000 barrels per day from the port were unaffected. "We want to see the benefit of our oil wealth distributed evenly to the population," one protester yelled over a loudhailer near the port. "We want to see a scale-down of expatriates in Oman so more jobs can be created for Omanis." As many as six people are said to have died in the Omani protests, according to hospital officials, a figure that contradicts official reports. Omar al-Abri, an official at the state-run Oman News Agency, said only one person had died in the protests, while state hospital officials on Sunday said that two people had died. |
| Posted by:Fred |