Q&A: Amarah protests

British troops remain alert for more protests in Amarah

More protests have been taking place in the Iraqi city of Amarah, a day after at least five people were shot dead by civilian police and British troops.

The BBC's Caroline Hawley describes the situation.

What is the atmosphere like there?

The atmosphere here is still very tense.

British troops were bracing themselves for more trouble after a weekend of riots and of course the deaths of those six people on Saturday.

They have brought in extra troops but so far it has been relatively quiet.

There have been a few dozen demonstrators, but much smaller crowds than on Sunday and on Saturday, but things are still very tense.

Are the British troops expecting to see more trouble?

There have been threats. For example, a threat that the Governor of Amarah should resign by the end of the day or demonstrators will sack his offices because his people are accused of being responsible for the shootings of some of these demonstrators.

There are threats out there and the British army say there are a lot of arms and ammunition so they are keeping up their guard here.

What is the investigation into the shootings at the weekend likely to focus on?

The main focus will be to determine the exact sequence of events that led to the shooting of these six protesters.

The British army says it is still not clear whether Iraqi police opened fire on an unarmed group of protesters or whether shots were fired from among the demonstration first.

It has been announced that a judicial investigation will take place.

Judges will be looking at witness statements, but this is the first time they have done this so they are not exactly sure yet what form it will take.

What is the cause of the tensions in Amarah?

Amarah is a microcosm of this country's troubles.

Trouble at the weekend was fuelled by allegations that new jobs were being distributed by nepotism and favouritism.

This was not helped by the fact that Iraq's police force is very poorly trained, and this is a very poor city.

We spoke to one man who has 10 children and he had two spring onions and an old fish in his fridge. He hasn't had a job since 2000.

There is real poverty here and genuine grievances about unemployment appear to have been the real cause of the demonstration.

But there are also claims that agitators and some Baa'thists took part too.