Iraq militia chief drops support for government amid protests
IN A SURPRISE MOVE, AL AMERI FORMS ALLIANCE WITH MOQTADA AL SADR
The Iraqi government’s two main sponsors agreed early yesterday to drop their support for embattled premier Adel Abdul Mahdi, overcoming their rivalry to resolve a political crisis sparked by widespread demonstrations.
The surprise rapprochement came as tens of thousands flocked to the capital’s Tahrir Square to demand the government quit, the largest rally yet since protests erupted on October 1.
Populist cleric Moqtada Al Sadr, who leads the parliament’s largest bloc, has spearheaded calls this week for Abdul Mahdi’s resignation and early parliamentary elections.
But Hadi Al Ameri, chief of the second-biggest bloc Fatah and a leading commander in its armed Hashd Al Shaabi branch, had thrown his weight behind the government.
In an unexpected move, Al Ameri announced overnight that he and Al Sadr would “work together to achieve the people’s demands”.
He thus accepted Al Sadr’s public invitation, issued hours earlier, to coordinate on a no-confidence vote in Abdul Mahdi, whom he dramatically called on to “Get out!” in a tweet.
As the politics played out online, the public demonstrations continued late into the night on Tuesday in Tahrir Square.
Blaring horns, fireworks and loud Iraqi music filled the plaza, Baghdad’s focal point for demonstrations. “They said we wouldn’t be able to do anything. But even if we change one name, now we have a voice,” said Yousuf, a 33-yearold who was spending his sixth straight night in the square.
Protesters have defied army orders to clear the streets between midnight and 6am local time, occupying the square and multi-storey buildings there.
Late on Tuesday, security forces unleashed volleys of tear gas at crowds massing on a key bridge linking Tahrir Square to the Green Zone, which hosts government offices and foreign embassies.
But the crowds seemed unfazed.
“We’ve started fighting over who can kick back the tear gas canister first,” Yousuf joked.
Rallies in Baghdad and across the south have swelled in recent days, defying curfews, threats of arrest and violence that has left more than 240 people dead and more than 8,000 wounded.
The first burst of protests starting on October 1 left 157 people dead, mostly protesters in Baghdad.
‘Lethal force’
At least 85 more have died in a second wave starting last Thursday, including at least one protester killed overnight in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, according to the Iraqi Human Rights Commission.
The Karbala violence has sparked condemnations from Amnesty International, who said “excessive and often lethal force” was used against protesters “in a reckless and utterly unlawful manner”.
Thus far, the government’s reform proposals — hiring drives, anti-corruption campaigns and more social safety nets — have failed to appease the protesters.
The movement is leaderless and disorganised, but recently received a new push from Iraq’s younger generation, with students and school children streaming onto the streets despite orders to return to class.
Trade unions representing teachers, lawyers and dentists have all declared strikes lasting several days. About 60 per cent of Iraq’s 40-million population is under the age of 25. But youth unemployment stands at 25 per cent, while one in five lives below the poverty line, despite the vast oil wealth of Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ second-largest crude producer.
“We don’t want this government any more. We want a transitional government and constitutional change,” another female protester said.
“I’m a teacher, I have a salary, I have a house — but the young, unemployed people are my brothers and relatives, too.”