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Iraqi protesters clash with riot police following an anti-government demonstration in al-Khilani Square, Baghdad on January 26, 2020. Photo: Ahmad al-Rubaye / AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – A source close to influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has warned Iraqi protesters they must return to the ‘original path’ of the protests – or Sadrists would support security forces in their crackdown on the popular movement.
Mohammed Salih al-Iraqi is a Twitter persona allied with Sadr - suspected by some to be Sadr himself. He took to the social media platform on Sunday to warn protesters that failure to revert to their original motives of protest would result in Sadr supporters collaborating with security forces to finish off their movement.
Iraqi suggested anti-US demonstrations were the divergence in question – though it was Sadr himself who organised a ‘million man march’ for the expulsion of American troops from Iraq on Friday, one separate from the four months of anti-government protests that have gripped the country.
“I understand your passionate emotions regarding the American attacks against His Eminence [Muqtada al-Sadr]…But he urges you not to protest against that, so that we may not be dragged into a domestic conflict,” Iraqi tweeted on Sunday.
“We have decided to stop supporting the protests… if the protesters refuse to come back on the original path, then we will join the heroes of security forces to bring back security for the sake of Iraqi people, and for the safety of Iraq.”
Withdrawal of support is not unconditional, and can be reinstated, Iraqi said.
“We won’t abandon [the protests], but we don’t want their reputation to be ruined.”
His tweet comes a day after Sadr withdrew his support for the movement and called on his supporters to leave Baghdad’s Tahrir Square on Friday – a move that effectively greenlighted a security force attack on protesters.
Early on Saturday morning, Iraqi security forces launched a violent crackdown, ejecting protesters from their camps, burning their tents, and retaking several strategic bridges.
Clashes erupted once more in several Iraqi provinces on Sunday, including the capital Baghdad. Protesters, who are predominantly young, told Rudaw reporter Hunar Ahmed that live ammunition is being used in the capital city's Wathba Square.
In Rudaw’s live coverage from the square, one protester told Ahmed “everything” was being used to quell unrest, including “snipers, live ammunition and tear gas”.
“We are the real Iraqis,” another protester in Wathba Square found hiding from the security forces told Rudaw’s reporter, “and we will not leave the protests, as we are not affiliated to any political parties.”
Following weeks of relative calm, violence resumed last week in Baghdad and other southern cities, where security forces used live ammunition to disperse protesters.
At least 10 died in clashes last week, according to the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights. At least three protesters were killed on Saturday alone, according to AFP.
Young Iraqis took to the streets of the nation’s southern and central cities on October 1 to protest the lack of basic services, rampant corruption, and high unemployment.
Following a short pause for the Shiite religious observance of Arbaeen, the protests resumed on October 25 with fresh demands for the overthrow of the post-2003 political establishment.
More than 600 people have been killed and around 18,000 injured in clashes between protesters, security forces, and pro-Iran militias, according to Amnesty International.
Sadr built upon Iraqi’s comments in a statement of his own released later on Sunday.
Claiming there are individuals with “questionable external agendas” working on deviating the “revolution,” Sadr said protesters should “wash their hands off of the [US] occupier instantly, in a clear and honest manner, with no speck of doubt, to relay the message that our revolution is purely Iraqi that is not managed from the outside.”
Entitled “Advice to Protesters,” his statement provided a list of suggestions for peaceful protest, including condemnation of public and private property damage, roadblocks, and carrying arms.
Despite his own opposition to Tehran’s policies in Iraq, Sadr criticized increasing anti-Iranian hostility among protesters, who have previously set fire to Iranian consulates and chanted anti-Iran slogans.
“Enmity with them is not in Iraq’s interests. Rather, we need a transparent political to deal with them, [in a manner] that preserves Iraq’s sovereignty and independent decision making,” Sadr added.
He further advised protesters not to hold up portraits or chant for him.
“If these [pieces of advice] are achieved, then it is fair to support the revolution, and even back it on part of all the people, not me…If this is not achieved, then I, as an Iraqi citizen, will proclaim that the revolution has been deviated or kidnapped,” Sadr added.
Additional reporting by Mohammed Rwanduzy
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