Did anti-Kuwait protestors in Basra chant Saddam's name? No, that's not true. This video is of a protest in 2019 that happened in the Maysan province of southern Iraq, not in Basrah.
The story appeared in many posts on social media, like this video (archived here) which was published on Tiktok on August 2, 2023, under the title "#Iraq #Protest #Basrah #chants #Saddam # Hussien's name" with two banners (translated from Arabic to English by Lead Stories staff) that say:
"Basra protest chants : Comeback Saddam, Iraq is in chaos"
"Basra protests to prevent Kuwaitis from entering Iraq"
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Fri Aug 18 13:50:41 2023 UTC)
In the video, you see people carrying the Iraqi flag and protesting under a bridge at nighttime, where you can hear people chanting in Arabic (translated into English by Lead Stories staff):
"Comeback Saddam, Iraq has become chaos."
The post claims that the individuals featured in the video are participating in protests against Kuwait's territorial claims in the border town of Um Qasr. Misinformation has been spreading in the aftermath of news coverage regarding the dispute between Kuwait and Iraq over territory in the town of Om Qasir.
The footage dated October 25, 2019, depicts an anti-government protest in the Maysan province of southern Iraq, situated near the Iranian border. During this protest, demonstrators voiced anti-government slogans, calling on the government to resign and end corruption. Notably, the original audio was replaced with people chanting Saddam's name.
