Talks in Baghdad as violence hits shrine cities
Baghdad, Iraq - Iraqi politicians and their regional allies gathered in Baghdad on Tuesday to discuss a way out of two months of protests that brought down the government, as violence hit shrine cities.
Demonstrators demanding root and branch reform have flooded the capital and the Shiite-majority south since October in the largest grassroots movement the country has witnessed in years.
Seen as a threat to the ruling elite, the rallies were met with a heavy-handed response from security forces and armed groups that has left more than 420 people dead and nearly 20,000 wounded - the vast majority demonstrators.
After a fresh uptick of violence last week, prime minister Adel Abdel Mahdi formally resigned and talks to find a replacement have intensified this week in Baghdad.
Among those attending the negotiations are two key allies of Iraq’s main Shiite parties: Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Major General Qasem Soleimani and Lebanese power broker Mohammad Kawtharany, a source said on Tuesday.
“Soleimani is in Baghdad to push for a particular candidate to succeed Abdel Mahdi,” the source said. Kawtharany, who is Lebanese militant group Hezbollah’s point man on Iraq, ‘is also playing a large role in persuading Shiite and Sunni political forces on this’, the source added.
Despite the oil wealth of OPEC’s second-biggest producer, one in five Iraqis lives in poverty and youth unemployment stands at one quarter, the World Bank says.