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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Protesters in Iraq are refusing to participate in demonstrations supporting the expulsion of US forces, citing their necessity for Iraq’s safety.
Sajad, 26, has been camped in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square since late October.
Iraqis have been protesting in central and southern parts of Iraq for more than 100 days, demanding real changes in the country and threatening to topple the political class that has held power since 2005.
He expressed doubt over the popularity of protests calling for the withdrawal of US troops, a topic which has been hotly discussed following a recent rise in US-Iran tensions.
“I think 75% of the protesters in Iraq, including me, won’t participate in the demonstration to expel US troops,” Sajad told Rudaw English on Thursday.
“The Iranian-backed militias, such as Kataib Hezbollah, al-Nujaba, and Asaib Ahl al-Haq have to be expelled to Iran before expelling the American troops,” he added.
Iraq’s influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Tuesday called on his supporters and Iraqi protesters to conduct large-scale demonstrations against the presence of American troops on January 24.
Sadr’s call follows a non-binding resolution passed by the Iraqi parliament asking the Iraqi government to end the presence of the US-led Global Coalition against Islamic State (ISIS) forces.
“[The] US troops presence in Iraq is very important for our protection,” Sajad added. “If the US troops {are] expelled now, we as protesters will be the biggest losers, as Iranian-backed militias will kill all of us in days.”
As of December, more than 511 protesters and members of security forces have been killed and around 17,000 more wounded since protests began on October 1, according to Human Rights Watch.
Omer, 28, a protester from Nasiriya, in southern Iraq's Dhi Qar province has also decided not to participate in the scheduled demonstrations.
“I won’t participate in the demonstration to expel the US troops in Iraq because I think it will affect our main protests and demands,” Omer told Rudaw English on Thursday.
“If this protest happens it will negatively affect our peaceful demands and will weaken our movement,” he added, fearing that clashes will erupt if Sadr’s rallies reach Tahrir Square.
In a Thursday tweet, Sadr called for demonstrations to continue, saying that popular protests and calls for the expulsion of the US troops from Iraq have “the same aim.”
Abdul-Rahman, 31, a protester from Karbala takes a different approach, deciding to participate in the demonstrations to protest both the US and Iranian presence in his country.
“I will go to the protests and participate, but I will chant for the expulsion of US troops and the Iranian-backed militias from Iraq,” Abdul-Rahman said.
Foreign influence in Iraq has been a key point of anger for protesters, who have torched Iranian consulates on various occasions.
Iraq is currently playing battlefield to skyrocketing US-Iran tensions, with the US conducting airstrikes on Iranian and Iran-backed targets in Iraq in response to a spate of rocket attacks against bases hosting US forces in the country, and Iraqi bases hosts US troops are being targeted frequently.
The US and Iran are at loggerheads over a number of issues, including Iranian adventurism through its Shiite proxies across the region. However, Tehran and Washington have both signaled that they do not want further military confrontation in Iraq and in the region in general.
The most recent rocket attack was reported on Tuesday, as several rockets hit areas near the Taji training camp in northern Baghdad which hosts US troops. It is unclear who is behind the attack.
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