Demonstrations in Baghdad and a number of southern Iraqi provinces continue for the 14th day in a row. The United Nations is trying to mediate between the protesters and the government, while the southern port of Umm Qasr resumed work after the protesters left its surroundings.
Al-Jazeera correspondent said that the Martyrs' Bridge was opened after demonstrators managed to close it in the past two days, while the bridges of the Republic, Al-Sunk and Al-Ahrar are still closed with heavy security spread.
For his part, Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi discussed the new year budget with his government, pledged to provide funds to respond to the demands of the demonstrators, and renewed his refusal to resign his government unless there is an alternative to avoid entering into the constitutional vacuum.
The UN representative in Iraq, Jenin Blachart, is holding a meeting in central Baghdad with representatives of the protesters, in the first meeting of its kind to open channels of dialogue between the government and the demonstrators, after meeting on Wednesday with Parliament Speaker Mohammed Halbousi to reach international mediation.
Al-Jazeera correspondent said that many of the protesters confirm that their movement is spontaneous and not organized, and that anyone who communicates with the UN mediation is not a representative of the street.
Seven people, including security men, were injured yesterday during clashes between security forces and demonstrators who tried to storm the building of the province of Karbala.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday expressed "grave concern at the high number of deaths and injuries during the ongoing demonstrations in Iraq" and called for a "serious investigation into all acts of violence."
The French Foreign Ministry condemned yesterday the "serious violence" in Iraq, and called in the statement of the Iraqi authorities to open a "peaceful and democratic dialogue," a note "the right of Iraqis to demonstrate peacefully."
Port of Umm Qasr
In the southern province of Basra, officials and sources in the security and oil sectors that operations resumed early today in the port of Umm Qasr and refinery Nasiriyah oil today after the departure of protesters of the two areas, and did not specify the reasons for the protesters or how.
Dozens of relatives of protesters killed in clashes with security forces later closed the main gate of the port, officials said.
The protesters blocked the roads leading to the port of Umm Qasr, which led to the cessation of operations for more than a week, and stopped the oil containers in the refinery of Nasiriyah on Wednesday before leaving today.
The halt of fuel trucks across the region has caused fuel shortages in the southern province of Dhi Qar, and oil officials said the refinery had recently been operating at about half its capacity.