Workers at Iraq's oldest brewery, Farida, sought US military protection Friday after a May 14 attack, which left four of them wounded, was followed by a spate of threats from Islamic fundamentalists to torch the plant, according to Middle East Online.

Two armoured vehicles from the US 3rd Infantry Division drove out to the Farida brewery in east Baghdad to talk with staff about securing it against Islamist groups taking advantage of the anarchy that has reigned in the Iraqi capital since the collapse of Saddam Hussein's secular regime last month.

Around 20 men armed with machine guns stormed the factory in the Zaafaraniya district, shooting four workers in the leg, breaking doors and burning a lorry, staff said.

Farida is the oldest brewery in Iraq, with a pre-war output of 4,000 litres a day, but power cuts and the persistent threats from Islamists have reduced its daily production to just 250 litres, he said.

At least four gin and arak distilleries have been burned down in attacks blamed on fundamentalists wanting to see alcohol production halted.

"Unfortunately, there has been no response" to our warnings, complained Sheikh Kazem al-Ibadi, in his sermon at the Muhsin mosque in Sadr City.

27 May, 2003