Yesterday, the Supreme Shiite cleric in Iraq, Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, condemned the killings and kidnappings targeting anti-government demonstrators, stressing the necessity of restricting arms to the state.
Al-Sistani said in his Friday sermon in Karbala, which was read by his representative, Ahmed Al-Safi, "We strongly condemn the killings, kidnappings and assaults in all its forms," denouncing "a sinful assault" in Al-Sinak last week, and of the "hideous and horrific crime" in Al-Wathba Square in central Baghdad. .
A garage controlled by protesters for weeks, at the Al-Sank bridge near the Liberation Square, in central Baghdad, last weekend, was attacked by an armed attack that killed at least 20 demonstrators and four police officers, and wounded about 100 people, according to security and medical sources.
And the day before yesterday, angry demonstrators attacked and killed a teenager, mutilated his body, and hung it on a traffic pillar in central Baghdad, at the behavior of the majority of the demonstrators, in order not to harm the protest movement, which presents itself as "peaceful."
Al-Sistani considered that these incidents, and "the repeated incidents of assassinations and kidnappings during the past days, confirm once again the importance of what the religious authority has repeatedly called for, that weapons - all weapons - must be subject to the authority of the state."
The reference called on «the concerned authorities to be at the level of responsibility, and reveal those who committed these crimes, and hold them accountable», warning of the repercussions of their repetition of the security and stability of the country.
Activists in Baghdad and elsewhere in the country have faced threats, kidnappings and killings, which they say are attempts to prevent them from demonstrating.
The campaign of intimidation, kidnapping, and repression of demonstrators in Iraq, which has been witnessing since October 1 a wave of protests to "overthrow the regime" and change the political class, has resulted in the death of more than 450 people, and the injury of more than 20 thousand injured to date.
Since then, dead bodies have been found in a number of Iraqi cities, and dozens of demonstrators and activists have been detained for varying periods of time by gunmen, most recently the young cameraman Zaid al-Khafaji, who was released Thursday evening, a week after he was kidnapped in front of his house.
The authorities have so far been unable to identify the kidnappers, who the protesters say are wearing military uniforms, and point the finger of blame at factions close to Iran.
On the level of protests, the city of Amara, south of Baghdad, witnessed yesterday morning a series of explosions with five sound devices, targeting the headquarters and homes of members of Shiite factions, without casualties, according to police sources and eyewitnesses.
In Kut, also to the south of the capital, six people were injured as a result of an explosion of a sound device late on Thursday night, inside a popular café frequented by youths who support the protests, according to security and medical sources.
Protests and gatherings continued yesterday in Baghdad, and several southern cities, including Nasiriyah, Kut, Hilla, Diwaniyah, Najaf, Karbala, and Basra.
- The demonstrations continue
And protest rallies
in Baghdad.