In Iraq, show of force by supporters of Moqtada Sadr

In Baghdad, tens of thousands of demonstrators responded to Moqtada Sadr's call on November 27, 2020. AP - Khalid Mohammed

Text by: RFI Follow

2 min

Seven months before the legislative elections in Iraq, the influential Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr organized a show of force on Friday, November 27, calling on his supporters to rally across the country.

Clashes erupted at the end of the day, leaving at least four dead and 51 injured. 

Publicity

Read more

With our correspondent in Baghdad,

Tahrir Square, in the heart of Baghdad, was crowded on Friday.

At the time of prayer, they were tens of thousands of Iraqis, equipped with flags in the colors of the country, to have responded to Moqtada Sadr's call.

Officially, the influential Shiite leader had called on his supporters to come together to demand more reforms within the Iraqi state.

But this demonstration was also, and above all, aimed at showing that this cleric can still gather huge crowds in Iraq.

A few days earlier, Moqtada Sadr predicted a major victory for his party in the early elections, scheduled for next June and demanded by the protesters of the revolt movement in 2019.

Between the Sadrists and these demonstrators, however, time is no longer for unity.

In Nassiriya, in the south of the country, the only place where anti-power protests continue more than a year after the start of the movement, violent clashes broke out between the two groups on Friday.

Not without precedent, these clashes claimed several victims.

Newsletter

Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_FR

• Iraq