Baghdad : Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered authorities to arrest and prosecute protesters who attacked security forces, lawmakers and damaged state property after breaking into Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone to protest delays in reform plans, reports AP.
Al-Abadi’s statement came a day after hundreds of angry anti-government followers of influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr tore down blast walls and poured into the parliament building, exacerbating a long-simmering political crisis. Al-Abadi toured inside the parliament building, walking past damaged furniture.
Videos on social media showed a group of young men surrounding and slapping two Iraqi lawmakers as they attempted to flee the crowd, while other protesters mobbed lawmakers’ motorcades. Jubilant protesters were also seen jumping and dancing on the parliament’s meeting hall tables and chairs and waving Iraqi flags. The protesters eventually left the parliament yesterday night and rallied at a nearby square. Al-Sadr and his supporters want to reform the political system put in place following the US led invasion in 2003, in which entrenched political blocs representing the country’s Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds rely on patronage, resulting in widespread corruption and poor public services.
The major blocs have until now stymied al-Abadi’s reform efforts. Today, protesters vowed to continue their sit-in inside the Green Zone until their demands are met.
