Iraq
Iraqi protesters react to tear gas fired by security forces amid clashes at al-Jumhuriya bridge leading to the capital Baghdad's high-security Green Zone on October 1, 2022. Photo: Ahmad al-Rubaye/AFP
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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The United Nations mission in Iraq on Saturday called for Iraqi protestors and security forces to maintain a peaceful stance regarding the ongoing anti-government protests in the Iraqi capital and southern provinces marking three years since the Tishreen (October) movement demonstrations.
Thousands of Tishreen and Sadrist Movement activists held fresh protests in Baghdad against a government that has failed to meet their demands amid an extra-tight security presence in the capital’s highly-fortified Green Zone as well as the blockage of the al-Jumhuriya bridge leading to the area.
“As we remember the victims of October 2019, we reiterate that the right to peaceful protest is essential in a democracy,” the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) stated.
Dozens of injuries, mostly minor, have been reported in the ranks of both the demonstrators and the Iraqi security forces, according to AFP.
“While we salute Iraqi Security Forces for handling the current protests professionally so far, we call on all to refrain from violence and prevent escalation,” the statement added.
Iraq’s Security Media Cell also reported that “a number of intruders” using Motolov cocktails in the demonstrations were arrested by security forces while reiterating the need to keep the protests peaceful.
The protests also come amid renewed efforts by Iraqi parties in the parliament to form a government. On Wednesday, the Iraqi parliament convened as the main Kurdish, Sunni, and pro-Iran Shiite blocs voted against Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi’s resignation and elected Muhsin al-Mandalawi as the legislature’s first deputy speaker, replacing Hakim al-Zamili of the Sadrist bloc.
Iraq was cast into chaos after influential cleric Muqtada al-Sadr announced his retirement from politics in late August, setting off violent clashes between his supporters and loyalists of rival Iran-backed militias which claimed the lives of at least 30 and injured 500 others.
Iraqis headed to the election polls last October, the aim of holding early elections was to form a government that would fulfill the demands of thousands of protestors who took to the streets of Baghdad and several southern provinces in 2019, forcing then prime minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi to resign.
However, nearly a year later, the parliament has failed to elect a new president and form the country’s next government.
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