Iraq: balancing act for Moqtada Sadr facing the street

Text by: RFI Follow

In Iraq, while the demonstrators refuse to allow themselves to be dominated by Moqtada Sadr, the powerful Shiite leader announced on Twitter the dissolution of his "blue caps". The militia recently turned against protesters, killing eight protesters last week.

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From Iran, where he took refuge several months ago, Moqtada Sadr attempts a difficult balancing act. Big winner of the 2018 legislative elections, he supports the rejection by the street of a system of which he himself is one of the main pillars. The movement refuses any political recovery anyway.

But on January 24 , Moqtada Sadr decides to take a new direction, this time he supports the current candidate Prime Minister Mohammed Taoufiq Allaoui. On the day of this appointment, its famous peace brigades attack one of the symbolic buildings of the demonstrators.

Dispersion of protesters' roadblocks

In the days that followed, Moqtada Sadr ordered his militias to disperse the sit-ins and roadblocks of the demonstrators. The rupture of his supporters with the rest of the demonstrators is complete. In yet another turnaround, the Shiite leader is now distancing himself from a Prime Minister who is struggling to find the members to form his government.

He thus responded to the protesters' criticisms as well as angrily of the great Ayatollah Ali Sistani who recalled that only the security forces were empowered to control the rallies. We will now have to wait to see on the ground if this dissolution of the peace brigades announced on twitter will really be followed by consequences.

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