BAGHDAD — Hundreds of Iraqis angered by a
months-long political crisis protested in the capital
Baghdad on Friday, days
after deadly clashes between rival Shiite groups sparked fears of widespread
unrest.
اضافة اعلان
Brandishing banners and Iraqi flags, the
non-partisan protesters streamed into west Baghdad’s Al-Nusoor square,
demanding a complete political overhaul, according to footage carried by state
media.
The mobilization followed nearly 11 months of
paralysis that has left the country without a new government, prime minister,
or president, with Shiite factions disagreeing on forming a coalition since
elections last October.
Demonstrators shouted the Arab Spring slogan: “The
people want the fall of the regime.”
Others carried banners and sang slogans deploring
interference by neighboring Iran, according to videos and images circulating on
social media networks.
“Iran will not rule anymore,” they said.
The peaceful demonstrators were supporters of an
anti-government protest movement that erupted in October 2019 but has since
died down.
Their rallies in Baghdad are not rare but Friday’s
relatively large turnout came after Iraq’s political crisis deepened.
Clashes between supporters of powerful Shiite cleric
Moqtada Al-Sadr and rival Iran-backed factions earlier this week turned the
Green Zone — home to government buildings and embassies — into a battlefield.
Thirty Sadr supporters were killed in nearly 24
hours of clashes that erupted on Monday after his supporters stormed the
government headquarters.
The violence moved to the country’s south on
Thursday where overnight clashes between Sadr-affiliated fighters and the rival
Iran-backed Asaib Ahl Al-Haq force left four militants dead.
Two members of Sadr’s Saraya Al-Salam force were
among those killed.
The oil-rich country has been ravaged by decades of
conflict and endemic corruption.
It is blighted by ailing infrastructure, power cuts
and crumbling public services, and now faces water shortages as drought ravages
swathes of the country.
Despite Iraq’s oil wealth, many citizens are mired
in poverty, and some 35 percent of young people are unemployed, according to
the UN.
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