Several hundred demonstrators gathered Thursday in Basra, south Iraq, demanding the local governor's ouster while protesters in Nasir stormed a local government building, which are the latest examples of the anger sweeping the country over poor government services and high unemployment.

About 600 people massed in front of the Basra provincial headquarters, guarded by the police. With the exception of some pushing and shoving, witnesses said the protest was largely peaceful, the AP reported.

„We are demanding that the Basra governor be fired because he has not done anything good for Basra,“ said Mohammed Ali Jasim, a 50-year-old father of nine.

Dozens of angry protesters in Nasir, 270 kilometeres south of Baghdad, stormed into the municipal building, setting fire to it, a police official in the provincial capital of Nasiriyah said.

Five policemen were wounded after protesters hurled stones at the building and five protesters were arrested before a curfew was imposed on the town, the officer said.