Hundreds of Protesters Storm Iraq Parliament in Support of Cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr - Iraq - The Guardian

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Police firedto help in access
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Hundreds of supporters of powerful Iraqi clericand contental-Sadr danced and sang in
Moqtada
the Guardian and your with us to provide, measurement,
parliament
experience in after
other storming Baghdad’s
analyse and improvehigh-security Green Zone in protest at a rival
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Police fired barrages ofcontent
teargasor in a bid to stop the protesters from breaching the gates
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of the heavily fortifiedfor you. Zone, but the crowds surged forward and entered
Green
parliament.
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Toam
“I manage yourthe
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said protester rely on legitimate
Mohamed Ali, a 41-
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year-old day labourer, one of the hundreds who entered the zone that is home to both
government buildings and diplomatic missions, before later leaving peacefully.
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Demonstrators gathered inside the Iraqi parliament building after they stormed the so-called ‘Green Zone’.
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Photograph: Ahmed Jalil/EPA
The protests are the latest challenge for oil-rich Iraq, which remains mired in a political
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and a socioeconomic crisis despite soaring global energy prices. You can find out more
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Sadr’s
cookies bloc emerged from
and similar elections
similar in October
technologies to as the biggest parliamentary
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establishment of a new government. information on a
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Crowds wandered
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The prime minister, Mustafa al-Kadhemi, called on the protesters
to “immediately
experience in other withdraw”, warning
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But it took orders issued for by
you.the Shia leader Sadr before the crowds of protesters started
to leave
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“Revolution ofcookie choices
reform, andnow, including
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injustice out where our partners
corruption,” Sadrrely on legitimate
wrote on
Twitter, in support of the protesters.
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“Your I’m happy has been
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heard … you have terrorised the corrupt”, he added, calling on
the demonstrators to say a prayer “before returning home safe and sound”.
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“We obey the Sayyed,” the crowds chanted as they calmly left parliament, a term
honouring Sadr by acknowledging him as a descendant of the Prophet Mohammed.
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Supporters of Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr seen inside the parliament building in Baghdad. Photograph:
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Sadr’s bloc won 73 seats in last year’s election, making it the time by going to
information on alargest faction in the 329-
seat parliament. But since the vote, talks to form a new government have stalled.
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The protesters oppose the candidacy of Mohammed al-Sudani, a former minister and
ex-provincial governor,
experience in other who is
analyse andthe pro-Iran Coordination Framework’s pick for
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ways. our services. This may and product
The Coordination Framework content ordraws lawmakers from former premier Nuri al-Maliki’s
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party and the pro-Iranfor you. Alliance, the political arm of the Shia-led former
Fatah
paramilitary
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only his first name. “We want an independent person who serves the people.”
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Iraq was plunged deeper into political crisis last month when Sadr’s 73 lawmakers quit
en masse.
Sadr had initially supported the idea of a “majority government” which would have
sent his Shia adversaries from the Coordination Framework into opposition.
The former militia leader then surprised many by compelling his lawmakers to resign, a
move seen as seeking to pressure his rivals to fast-track the establishment of a
government.
Sixty-four new lawmakers were sworn in later in June, making the pro-Iran bloc the
largest in parliament.
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Iraqi security forces stand guard as protesters attempt to storm Green Zone. Photograph: Ahmed Jalil/EPA
Earlier this month, hundreds of thousands of Muslim worshippers loyal to Sadr

attended a Friday prayer service in Baghdad, in a display of political might.
The huge turnout came despite scorching heat and the Shia cleric not being there in
person – an indication of his status as a political heavyweight, as well as a key religious
authority.
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