A statement from the General Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq (GFWCUI), Oct. 27:

In Basra Thousands of Workers Take to the Street Against the Government Anti-Workers Policy
In a coordination effort with the Labor Unifying Bureau, thousands of workers from various industrial sectors took to the streets of Basra on October 27, 2008 marching towards the municipal building where the officials offices to denounce the ministry of Finance decrees that resulted in massive cut backs in workers salaries.

A statement from the Iraq Freedom Congress, Oct. 19:

Thousands of Workers Took To the Street against the Minister of Finance
US Troops and National Guards Surround the Event While the Labor Leaders Deliver Their Speeches
In a series of demonstrations led by workers of the Ministry of Industry against the Minister of Finance and government decisions that intend workers salaries cut back under terms of the International Monetary Fund, a massive demonstration was organized today October 19, 2008 in Firdaus Square in Baghdad, where thousands of workers have participated.

Blasts struck a double-decker bus and a taxi in eastern Baghdad Oct. 20, killing four. Iraqi police said the bus was carrying employees of Iraq's Housing Ministry through the Shi'ite neighborhood of Mashtal when it was hit by a roadside bomb. (AP, Oct. 20) Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is calling for more time to work out details of a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with the US. The latest draft of the deal would allow US forces to remain past a 2011 deadline at the request of the Iraqi government in the event of continued instability. (CSM, Oct. 20)

The number of Christian families who have fled the northern Iraqi city of Mosul in the past week has reached 1,350, Nineveh provincial authorities said Oct. 15. Fourteen Christians have been slain in the past two weeks in the city. On Oct. 14, the Miskinta Church in the Old City district of Mosul was bombed, causing damage to the building but no casualties. Many of the displaced families have fled to predominantly Christian villages in the Nineveh Plain, northeast of the city. Church leaders accuse the Iraqi government of trying to cover up the extent of the crisis.

The Turkish military said that its warplanes hit targets of the PKK guerillas in the Zap region of northern Iraq Oct. 12. The Turkish General Staff said in a statement that this was the seventh time that Turkey's warplanes have bombed PKK targets in Iraq since Oct. 4. Rather than protesting the raids, Iraq's ambassador to Turkey Sabah Umran Oct. 14 pledged his government's support in cracking down on the PKK.

Attacks in the Iraqi city of Mosul have forced nearly 1,000 Christians, or some 500 families, to flee their homes over the past week, the governor of the northern Ninawa (Nineveh) province reports. Duraid Mohammed Kashmoula Oct. 11 said most have taken shelter in schools, churches, monasteries and the homes of relatives in the northern and eastern fringes of Ninawa. Chaldean Archbishop Louis Sako said Iraq's Christians are facing a campaign of "liquidation" and called on the US military to do more to protect them.

Suicide bombers targeting Shi'ite worshippers killed at least 20 people and injured dozens more at two Baghdad mosques Oct. 2. They attacks came as Shi'ites marked the first day of Eid, a three-day celebration that follows Ramadan, Islam’s holy month. A man strapped with explosives killed at least 12 worshipers as they left al-Rasoul mosque in Jadida, a largely Shi'ite district. Another struck a crowd of worshippers outside a mosque in Zafaraniyah, also in southern Baghdad. (McClatchy, Oct. 3; Bloomberg, Oct. 2)

A car bomb detonated Sept. 30 near a crowded restaurant at lunchtime in central Baghdad's Karrada district, killing at least four civilians and wounding nine others. Most of the victims were eating lunch on the first day of the five-day Eid al-Fitr holiday that marks the end of Ramadan for Sunnis. Eid begins for Shi'ites two days later. On Sept. 28, a suicide car bombing in the same district killed and wounded scores of Iraqis getting preparing for Eid al-Fitr. (CNN, Sept. 30)