MUSCAT // Police in Oman arrested six people as protesters demanding jobs and higher wages broke into private properties and government buildings, witnesses said yesterday.
In protests on Sunday in the town of Jaalan Bani Bu Ali, about 100 demonstrators marched in the streets, chanting slogans such as "Where are the jobs?" before the demonstration turned violent.
"They started throwing stones at houses, kicking windows, doors and rocking cars. The police moved in quickly to disperse the crowd and six were arrested," said one witness, who did not wish to be identified for fear of retribution.
The civil service minister said last week that about 33,000 jobless people had been employed in the government sector since Sultan Qaboos bin Said ordered the creation of 50,000 jobs in March.
Hamed Abu Suroor, 23, one of the demonstrators, said: "These jobs went to graduates in the big cities and towns. The government has ignored people in the smaller towns like ours."
Protests turned violent for the first time in late February when security forces fired on stone-throwing demonstrators and killed one in the city of Sohar.
Six weeks later, police killed another protester in the same city. Since then, the government has managed to stop protests in Sohar with people saying that they had been given jobs to appease them.
In Salalah, people have demonstrated every Friday outside the office of the governor for the past two months demanding the end of corruption among government officials.