CRISIS CELLS TO DEAL WITH UNREST

Move comes day after Iraqi protesters burned down Iranian consulate in Najaf

Iraqi authorities yesterday said they had set up “crisis cells” that would be jointly led by military leaders and civilian governors in Iraq’s provinces in order to stem spiralling popular unrest, according to a military statement.

The statement said the cells would be headed by provincial governors but that military leaders would be appointed as members and “take over military and security services in (each) province.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi military said yesterday it had deployed commanders to strife-torn southern provinces to “restore order”, a day after antigovernment protesters torched an Iranian consulate.

The military command said “an emergency unit has been set up under the supervision of the governors” to “impose security and restore order”.

“On the orders of the commander in chief of the armed forces, Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, some military commanders have been appointed to this unit to direct and control all security and military forces and assist the governors in their mission,” it said in a statement.

Iraqi security forces shot dead 24 protesters in the southern city of Nassiriya, medical sources said.

Four others were killed in the capital Baghdad, where security forces opened fire with live ammunition and rubber bullets against protesters near a bridge over the Tigris river.

A curfew was imposed in Najaf after protesters stormed and set fire to the Iranian consulate late on Wednesday. Businesses and government offices remained closed in the city.

“The burning of the consulate last night was a brave act and a reaction from the Iraqi people — we don’t want the Iranians,” said Ali, a protester in Najaf.

“There will be revenge from Iran I’m sure, they’re still here and the security forces are going to keep shooting us.”

A protester who witnessed the burning of the consulate said security forces had opened fire to try to stop it.

“All the riot police in Najaf and the security forces started shooting at us, as if we were burning Iraq as a whole,” he said, declining to give his name.

HOW IS THE GOVERNMENT DEALING WITH THE UNREST?

Not well. The inability of the government and political class to deal with the unrest and answer protesters’ demands has fuelled public anger.

Prime Minister Abdul Mahdi has promised electoral and anti-corruption reform but barely begun delivering while security forces have shot dead hundreds of mostly peaceful demonstrators in the streets of Baghdad and southern cities.

HOW SIGNIFICANT ARE THE PROTESTS?

The protests, which began in Baghdad on October 1 and have spread through southern cities, are the most complex challenge facing the Shiite-dominated ruling class that has controlled state institutions and patronage networks since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled long-time Sunni ruler Saddam Hussain.

But security forces have cracked down hard killing at least 400 protesters since demonstrations began. Young, mostly Shiite protesters say politicians are corrupt, beholden to foreign powers — especially Iran — and they blame them for a failure to recover from years of conflict despite relative calm since the defeat of Daesh in 2017.

MILITIAS ISSUE WARNING

The military commander of the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), an umbrella grouping of paramilitary groups whose most powerful factions are close to Tehran, said the groups would use full force against anyone trying to attack Iraq’s most powerful Shiite cleric, who is based in Najaf.

“We will cut the hand of anyone trying to get near (Grand Ayatollah Ali) Al Sistani,” commander Abu Mahdi Al Muhandis said.

Observers said the events in Najaf would likely bring a tough response.

“Apart from casual statements ... the government has not announced any plan (or) given any clear account of what measures it will take,” said Dhiaa Al Asadi, adviser to powerful populist cleric Moqtada Al Sadr. “Initiatives are going to be scarce.”

Fanar Haddad, senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute, said the government might use the burning of the Iranian consulate as a pretext for an even more heavyhanded crackdown.

“The downside from the protesters’ point of view is this might reinforce the government’s narrative that protesters are infiltrators, saboteurs and up to no good,” he said.

“It sends a message to Iran but also works to the advantage of people like Muhandis ... (giving) a pretext to clamp down and framing what happened as a threat against Al Sistani.”

Al Sistani rarely speaks on political issues but traditionally wields enormous influence over public opinion.

He has used Friday sermons in recent weeks to urge the government to enact real reform and stop killing demonstrators.