When their tents were burned, Iraqi protesters replaced them with concrete structures. When influential cleric Muqtada al-Sadr withdrew his support, even more protesters turned out despite fears of a crackdown by security forces. On 1 February al-Sadr ordered his followers back to Tahrir Square, where they clashed with demonstrators and forcibly took over the main part of the square. The nomination of Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi as the new prime minister has been received negatively by the protesters, who see his choice as a plot by al-Sadr and his Iran-backed allies to end the protests in Baghdad. The parliament needs to hold a session to vote on the nomination. The Sadrist group is now cooperating with the security forces to end the sit-in at the square.
Iraq: protests swell
Written by David Fletcher 06 Feb 2020Additional Info
- Pray: for peace on the streets of Iraq, and for honesty and justice in its politics. (2 Chronicles 19:9)
- More: www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/01/iraq-protests-muqtada-sadr.html#ixzz6D5jAiBkp
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