Demonstrations regain momentum in Iraq amid continued pressure on the authorities

Anti-government protests continued in the Iraqi capital and the south yesterday, as the authorities are seeking to face the pressure of the street, which was reinforced by UN efforts to find a solution to the crisis that plagued the country for several weeks.

Despite calls from the authorities for a "return to normalcy", demonstrators continued to demand a new regime and change the political class in a country that is one of the richest in the world and among the most corrupt.

Although the momentum of the demonstrations has diminished in the past few days, after the violence in the face of demonstrations by security forces, the demonstrators returned yesterday, in Baghdad and the cities of the south to the squares, supported by students and the teachers' union, which continues to strike.

In the oil-rich southern city of Basra, about 800 students and teachers returned to the camp outside the provincial council headquarters, after security forces broke up last weekend.

According to correspondents from «AFP» large demonstrations in the city of Diwaniya and Nasiriyah, with the almost complete closure of schools and official circles.

The highest Shiite religious authority in Iraq gave impetus to the street in the face of the government's efforts to break up the demonstrations, noting that the protesters will not withdraw from the street unless real reforms are made.

Another student, in Tahrir Square, said yesterday that "female students, students and colleges all came today for civil disobedience."

He added: «If the authority gives orders to civil disobedience, everything will close: the state, all oil companies. This is how we reach a solution. ”

Yesterday morning, the President of the Kurdistan region of Iraq, Nechirvan Barzani, met with Iraqi Prime Minister, Adel Abdul Mahdi, in Baghdad. The two men have a good personal relationship, and Erbil has announced its support for the current government.

In turn, said the religious leader, Muqtada al-Sadr, yesterday, that the protest demonstrations in Baghdad, and the provinces, achieved victories, the most important humiliated and terrorized corrupt.

Al-Sadr, in a tweet on the social networking site «Twitter»: «Despite some of the mistakes that marred the demonstrations and sit-ins, we stand respect and respect, and they have achieved the most important victories humiliated and terrorized».

He called «security forces not to prejudice the demonstrators, and protesters».