ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Protesters and angry supporters of firebrand Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr shut down six ministries in Baghdad on Monday and were heading toward the parliament, where MPs earlier said they would meet the next day to try and break a political deadlock. The demonstrators surrounded and forcefully shut down the ministries of power, higher education, cultural affairs after forcing employees to evacuate, Ashwaq Jaf, a Kurdish lawmaker in the Iraqi parliament, told Rudaw. Sadr has been locked in a showdown with Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi over stamping out corruption and changing his government. Earlier in the day, Iraq’s bickering political factions in parliament agreed on meeting Tuesday to discuss choosing the next parliamentary president, to exit a political crisis that the US worries may hamper the war with the Islamic State (ISIS). The decision to meet, announced Monday, came shortly after US Defense Secretary Ash Carter arrived in Baghdad to discuss the next step of the war with ISIS and meet with Iraqi commanders and the embattled Iraqi premier. On Sunday, Iraqi forces tightened security in Baghdad, after Sadr supporters took to the streets of the Iraqi capital, attacking four ministries to press for demands that ministers be fired and that Abadi take serious steps to stamp out government corruption. Many of Sadr’s supporters arrived in Baghdad for the protest at the cleric’s request, according to a Rudaw correspondent. Security forces barred the gates of ministries to protect the lives of those inside, as helicopters flew overhead. The violence flared after a failed meeting of lraqi lawmakers, Kurdish and Iraqi political blocs that were looking for possible resolutions to end the crisis. On Saturday, Sadr warned Abadi to come up with a technocratic government within 72 hours. According to the statement Sadr wants Abadi to resolve the current political problems and reshuffle his government within 45 days. Sadr staged a sit-in last month inside Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone to put pressure on Abadi to reshuffle his cabinet.
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