Death toll 53 as Iraq unrest spreads
Security forces opened fire directly at hundreds of antigovernment demonstrators on Friday in central Baghdad, killing at least 10 protesters and injuring dozens, hours after Iraq’s top Shiite cleric warned both sides to end four days of violence “before it’s too late.”
The deaths raised to 53 the number of people killed in clashes during the continuing unrest and marked a sharp escalation in the use of force against unarmed protesters. The violence showed both sides
AL-SISTANI APPEALS FOR CALM
to be unwilling to back down from the unrest that marks the most serious challenge for Iraq since the defeat of Daesh two years ago.
In a televised address to the country early on Friday, Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said the protesters’ “legitimate demands” had been heard, adding that the security measures used against the demonstrations were like “bitter medicine” that needs to be swallowed. Gunfire rang out in Baghdad on Friday, as security forces battled and chased groups of protesters. Security forces fired directly at people trying to reach the central Tahrir Square, which was sealed off, hitting two protesters directly in the head and killing them.
Iraq’s most senior Shiite spiritual leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani urged both sides to end the violence, and he blamed politicians, particularly lawmakers, for failing to enact promised reforms on the economy and corruption. Al-Sistani singled out the leaders of the two biggest Parliament blocs. “The government and the political sides have not fulfilled the demands of the people to fight corruption,” Al-Sistani said in his Friday sermon, delivered by his representative in Karbala.
Al-Sistani urged the government to “carry out its duty” to ease people’s suffering and reiterated his call for a committee of technocrats to make recommendations on fighting corruption as a way out of the current crisis.
Later, influential Shiite cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr whose Sairoon political bloc came in first in last year’s national elections, said he was suspending participation in parliamentary activities until the government introduces a program that serves Iraqi aspirations. Al-Sadr asked members of his coalition to boycott sessions until the government issues a program acceptable to the people.
Abdul Mahdi said there was “no magic solution” to Iraq’s problems but pledged to work on laws granting poor families a basic income, provide alternative housing to violators and fight corruption.
“We will not make empty promises ... or promise what we cannot achieve,” said the premier. “The security measures we are taking, including temporary curfew, are difficult choices. But like bitter medicine, they are inevitable.”