One day after storming parliament, Iraqi protesters are camping out [Aljazeera report] Sunday within the confines of Baghdad’s International Zone, also referred to as the “Green Zone”.
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Loudspeakers manned by followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who has led the protest movement, announced the disbanding of the protests, which had marked the culmination of months of sit-ins and demonstrations demanding the overhaul of a political system widely seen as corrupt and ineffectual.
In a televised statement, organizers said they would take further action unless the Council of Representatives approves a Cabinet including independents proposed by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.
To Iraqis who have lived through the reign of Saddam Hussein, the American occupation and the current turmoil, the Green Zone has long symbolized tyranny, occupation and corruption. She said protesters would be back Friday to make a “major stand” and vowed they would keep up the pressure.
The demonstrators were acting on the orders of Moqtada al-Sadr, the powerful Shiite cleric responsible for launching a bloody insurgency against USA forces.
Islamic State said it had attacked a gathering of special forces in Samawa, 230km south of the capital, with one auto bomb and then blew up the second when security forces responded to the site.
Demonstrators broke into Baghdad’s Green Zone on Saturday because they want to reform the political system that was put in place following the USA -led invasion in 2003.
But at least 23 people were killed in a bombing targeting pilgrims just outside Baghdad on Saturday.
State Department spokesman John Kirby said there was no “specific danger posed” to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.
On Saturday, an IS-claimed bombing in a market filled with Shiite civilians in Baghdad killed at least 21 people and wounded at least 42 others.
By Sunday, protesters had pulled down portions of the tall concrete wall that separates the Green Zone from the rest of Baghdad.
Protesters on Saturday attacked at least one MP as well as cars they believed belonged to lawmakers, and broke into offices in parliament.
Latest figures released by the United Nations (UN) show that at least 741 Iraqi people, including soldiers and civilians, lost their lives in violence in the country in the month of April. “We got our message out from the Iraqi street”, Al-Hashemi said.
“We remain absolutely committed to the sovereignty of Iraq … and the democratically elected government that Abadi represents”, he said.
A police official says the first explosives-laden vehicle went off around midday Sunday near government offices in the city of Samawah, while the second exploded minutes later at an open-air bus station.
ISIS militants fighting Iraqi forces in the north and west regularly target security personnel and Shiite civilians whom they consider apostates.
“The Mission condemns the use of violence, including against elected officials, and urges calm, restraint and respect for Iraq’s constitutional institutions at this crucial juncture”, it said in a statement posted to Facebook. “If not, the prime minister, president and parliament speaker will be discharged and then snap elections will be held”, al-Ubeydi warned.
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A politician who attended the talks said Abadi had faced accusations of mishandling the crisis.
