BAGHDAD, Iraq – Iraqi Army SWAT teams deployed across Baghdad on Thursday, amid mounting tensions over a possible showdown between Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar Abadi and firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Rudaw correspondent in Baghdad Hevidar Ahmed said that security measures were tightened as the SWAT forces fanned across the capital. The army’s elite Golden Force entered the highly fortified Green Zone, where Sadr has been staging a sit-in since Sunday, demanding that Abadi start government reforms immediately. Many military vehicles were inside the Green Zone, in anticipation that more pro-Sadr demonstrators would try to enter the Green Zone, which houses government buildings and foreign embassies. Abadi has announced a government reshuffle, with the names of new ministers due to be announced today. Sadr has warned Abadi to "stop giving futile promises" and start with grassroots government reforms if he wants to avoid impeachment. "We advise the prime minister to stop giving futile promises," Sadr said in a message, convoyed by an official from his Sadrist Movement before supporters in the Green Zone. He has also warned Abadi not to "blow your anger on peaceful demonstrators, since they have been legally waging their opposition. Rather, he better blow his anger at the corrupt” officials. Abadi pledged on Tuesday that he would announce a cabinet reshuffle shortly. But Sadr has been pressuring Abadi to implement a wider reform package that would include replacing several ministers with apolitical technocrats, in a bid to eliminate patronage and corruption.
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