http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1504&ncid=1504&e=7&u=/afp/20041114/ts_afp/iraq_samarra_unrest_041114041549SAMARRA, Iraq (AFP) - Crippling unemployment is fueling Iraq (news - web sites)'s deadly insurgency in the flashpoint city of Samarra north of Baghdad, which remains under curfew after car bombs and attacks on police stations last week killed 36 and left scores wounded.
"Sometimes, if the insurgents come to ask a young man to make trouble in exchange for money, he'll do so because the situation is very hard," said an unemployed construction worker who gave his name as Omar, standing outside a shop on a nearly empty city centre street.
Shopkeeper Taher, who also only gave one name, said there is no work in Samarra, where Iraqi and US forces launched a massive operation in early October to regain control of the city from insurgents.
After a two-day fight, US-led forces withdrew under an agreement to turn security over to Iraqi authorities. But a frightened and undermanned police force has failed to bring Samarra completely into line, leaving the Sunni Muslim-dominated city with only a tenuous hold on security.
"If there are jobs it would be hard for the insurgents to give money to fight," Taher said.
The US military estimates unemployment in this city of some 250,000 people runs as high as 70 percent...
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