The students waved orange banners similar to those flown by pro-democracy demonstrators in Kiev in 2004 and 2005 and have chosen a name for their movement -- "Solidarity" -- that harks back to Polish trade unionists of the 1980s.

"We are trying to send a message to the government to persuade them to carry out reforms and take measures against corruption," the movement's leader Zana Abdel Karim told an AFP reporter.

Iraq's northern Kurdish region has enjoyed almost total autonomy for more than 16 years, and has been spared the carnage that has descended on central and southern Arab areas while making modest economic progress.

But many in the region believe that the two powerful political parties that control the area have unfairly divided up its wealth between themselves.

Abdel Karim said Solidarity had polled 4,000 students and that 90 percent of them believe there is corruption in the government, which is looking forward to increased revenues as Kurdistan attracts oil prospectors.

Sulaimaniyah University officials tried to prevent journalists covering the event, and some students said they had been threatened with expulsion.