UN calls for stop to Iraqi protests

THE top UN official in Iraq deplored five days of violence during protests that have killed nearly 100 across the country and wounded thousands, saying “this must stop”.

“Five days of reported deaths and injuries; this must stop,” Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the special representative of the UN secretary-general in Iraq, said in a tweet.

According to t he Iraqi parliament’s human rights commission, 99 people have been k i l l e d a nd ne a r l y 4 , 0 0 0 wou nde d s i nc e pr ot e s t s aga inst unemploy ment a nd liv ing conditions erupted on Tuesday in Baghdad before spreading to the south of t he countr y.

The UN official said she was “deeply saddened by the loss of life”.

“I call on all parties to pause and reflect. Those responsible for the violence should be held to account. Let the spirit of unity prevail across Iraq,” she said.

The protests over chronic u n e mploy ment a n d p o o r public ser vices that began on Tuesday have escalated into a broader movement demanding an end to official corruption and a change of government.

They have been largely spontaneous and led by mainly young male protesters who have insisted their movement is not linked to any party or religious establishment.

The protests have presented the biggest challenge yet to Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi, who came to power a year ago as a consens us candidate promising reforms.

On Fr iday t he prem ier appea led for more t ime to implement his reform agenda in a count r y devastated by decades of conf lict. “There are no magic solutions”, he said.

But his pleas for patience appear to have underestimated the intensity of public anger, and several top figures have thrown their support behind the protesters.

Iraq’s Shiite spiritual leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani used his weekly Friday sermon to urge authorities to heed the demands of demonstrators, warning the protests could escalate unless clear steps are taken immediately.

And parliament speaker Mohammed al-Halbusi vowed to push for reforms over employment and social welfare, telling protesters “your voice is being heard”.

But the protesters who have hit the streets over the last five days have been contemptuous of existing political factions in the country.