A riot broke out in central Baghdad on Wednesday morning as a group of unemployed people were demonstrating for jobs.

The demonstrators threw stones at Iraqi police officers and set cars on fire.

The police fired shots into the air to disperse the demonstrators. Two people were reportedly injured in the gunfire.

Dozens of infuriate people burned two cars at the Management Forces for Protection of Activities Establishment in al-Sa'doon district, a Xinhua correspondent said.

"We wanted to make a peaceful demonstration but they shot over our heads," said 20-year-old Ali Hussein.

He told Xinhua that he submitted the application in August but was put off several times. The last time he was told to come was Oct. 1, by then he had seen many people get the job through bribing.

The crowd was finally dispersed after Iraqi Deputy Interior Minister Ahmed Kathom Ibrahim visited the scene and promised an investigation.

The high unemployment rate since the former regime of Saddam Hussein fell in April has fueled chaos and social instability in Iraq.
 
(Xinhua News Agency October 2, 2003)