In the Iraqi capital Baghdad, demonstrators have invaded the parliament. Shortly before, the crowd had stormed the highly secured green zone, as the Iraqi state news agency INA reported on Wednesday. According to eyewitnesses, security forces first tried to disperse the crowd. There were also reports of injuries.
Thousands of supporters of the influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr had gathered at the high-security zone, which houses parliament and many embassies. Among other things, they demonstrated against the nomination of former minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani for the post of prime minister.
Prime Minister Mustafa al-Khadimi and the supreme commander of the armed forces called on the demonstrators to immediately withdraw from parliament and the Green Zone.
A power struggle has been raging in Iraq since the parliamentary elections last October. Al-Sadr's list won the most seats. The cleric tried to form a majority government, but he recently withdrew from parliament with MPs from his party. Many Iraqis now have little confidence in politics after the oil-rich country has been struggling with economic and political crises for years.
