BAGHDAD — A top official from
Iraq’s Sadrist movement called
Tuesday on followers who have occupied parliament for four days to move their
protest outside, as calls mount for dialogue between political rivals.
اضافة اعلان
Supporters of powerful preacher Moqtada Al-Sadr —
whose political bloc in October won the largest share of seats in elections —
stormed parliament on Saturday to protest against a rival Shiite faction’s pick
for prime minister.
Nearly 10 months on from the elections, the oil-rich
country still has no government and no new prime minister or president.
A standoff pit the two key factions of the Shiite
political scene, between the populist Sadr with a devoted following of
millions, and the powerful pro-Iran Coordination Framework.
While Sadr’s bloc resigned in June ostensibly in a
bid to unblock the impasse, the situation has only deteriorated since then.
Mohamed Saleh Al-Iraqi, a senior Sadr loyalist,
called on protesters to “leave parliamentary headquarters” and join fellow
Sadrists at an “encampment in front of and around the building”.
The announcement caused confusion in parliament,
where some officials said the instructions were to only leave the main chamber
and another meeting room, but that protesters could stay on in the large
entrance hall.
On Tuesday afternoon, hundreds of protesters
continued to lounge in armchairs and on carpets in parliament, an AFP
journalist said.
Protest encampment
In the surrounding gardens,
protesters have erected tents, while mobile food stalls have sprung up to serve
food and drinks. Cows were tied up to a post and a butcher manned a sand.
Protesters should leave the inside of parliament
within 72 hours, Sadr ally Iraqi added, in a message on Twitter.
“The pursuit of the sit-in is very significant
because it will solidify your demands,” he said, recommending that protesters
rotate their presence at the site.
He also announced that a major prayer rally would
take place on Friday in the Green Zone, home to parliament, other
Iraqi institutions and foreign embassies.
The Sadrist camp was outraged by the Coordination
Framework faction last week nominating former minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani
as prime minister.
The Coordination Framework is a grouping that
includes former prime minister Nuri Al-Maliki, a long-standing foe of Sadr, and
the Hashed Al-Shaabi, a former paramilitary network now integrated into the
security forces.
Thousands of Coordination Framework supporters have held counter-protests
in Baghdad against the occupation of parliament, decrying what they call an
attempted coup.
Outgoing prime minister
Mustafa Al-Kadhemi late Monday
called for a “national dialogue”, a proposal endorsed by the Sunni speaker of
parliament Mohamed Al-Halbussi and by Ammar Al-Hakim, a senior Coordination
Framework official.
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