MADRID, Aug. 29 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Iraqi prime minister, Mostafa al-Kazemi, has asked the leader of the ‘sadrist’ movement, the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, to help the authorities evict the government buildings occupied by his followers after announcing his withdrawal from political life.
“We affirm that the fact that the protesters bypass state institutions is a reprehensible act and outside the legal contexts,” the prime minister said in a statement, adding that they have appealed to Al Sadr, who “has always supported the state”, to order the demonstrators to go home.
Likewise, he has affirmed that “the political dispute to the point of damaging all the institutions of the State does not serve the capacities, aspirations, future and territorial integrity of the Iraqi people” to recover from the political crisis.
“The dangerous events that took place today in our beloved Iraq indicate the seriousness of the consequences of the continuation and accumulation of political differences,” said Al Kazemi, who has called an emergency meeting to discuss recent events in the country.
According to the NINA news agency, the protesters have begun to withdraw from some presidential buildings within the Green Zone of Baghdad, where the majority of government buildings and foreign diplomatic missions are located.
At least one protester has died near the house of the president of former Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki, in the presidential district of Baghdad, in the framework of the demonstrations, which have already spread to other governorates, such as Wasit, in the center-east of the country, or that of Diala.
The Joint Operations Command has announced a curfew in the capital that includes all vehicles and citizens, starting at 3:30 p.m. (local time) this Monday afternoon, while the Council of Ministers has suspended its sessions until new notice.
The clashes occur after the Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr announced on Monday his definitive withdrawal from politics and the closure of all institutions affiliated with the ‘Sadrist movement’.
Source: Europa Press
