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Baghdad Violence: At least 12 people have been killed and many injured as violent clashes broke out in the Iraqi capital Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone on Monday. The clashes followed after powerful Iraqi Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr announced that he was withdrawing from political life, medical sources told CNN while several witnesses said that the security forces pushed protesters out of Iraq’s Republican Palace by firing tear gas and live bullets. Hundreds of protesters stormed the building inside the Green Zone following al-Sadr’s announcement, Iraqi security officials told CNN on Monday.
The protesters oppose the candidacy of Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, a former minister and ex-provincial governor, who is the pro-Iran Coordination Framework’s pick for premier.
The Republican Palace is where the Iraqi cabinet meets, and Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi has now suspended all meetings of his government until further notice, according to a statement released by his office. The Prime Minister has urged al-Sadr “to help call on the demonstrators to withdraw from government institutions,” add reports.
On the other hand, the news agency AFP reported that live fire rocked Baghdad’s Green Zone on Monday after hundreds of supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr stormed the government building in the fortified area.
Witnesses told AFP that the shots were fired by the supporters of a rival Shia bloc, the pro-Iran Coordination Framework, hours after al-Sadr announced his “definitive retirement” from politics amid a protracted political crisis.
Security forces also fired tear gas to disperse the Sadrists at the entrance to the Green Zone, a security source told AFP.
Medics told AFP that 12 Sadr supporters had been shot dead and 270 other protesters were hurt, some with bullet wounds and others suffering tear gas inhalation.
Iraq’s powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr announced on Monday that he is quitting politics, after a nearly-year-long stalemate that has left the country without a new government, reported AFP. “I’ve decided not to meddle in political affairs. I therefore announce now my definitive retirement,” said Sadr, a longtime player in the war-torn country’s political scene.
He made the announcement on Twitter, where he added that “all the institutions” linked to his Sadrist movement will be closed, except the mausoleum of his father, assassinated in 1999, and other heritage facilities.
He gained popularity in Iraq following the toppling of the Saddam government by the 2003 US invasion of Iraq.
His latest statement came two days after he said, “all parties” including his own should give up government positions in order to help resolve a months-long political crisis, added the report.
(With agency inputs)
