The protests in Iraq .. "Friday steadfastness" and the Shiite reference renews warnings

Dozens of Iraqis denounced corruption in clashes with security forces, while demanded the Shiite authority to speed up the enactment of a new election law to ensure real change, and warned of foreign interference.

Al Jazeera correspondent said that the injuries occurred when the demonstrators tried to approach the repulsion line set up by the riot police in the vicinity of al-Khalani Square in central Baghdad.

The German news agency DPA quoted witnesses that two people were killed Friday evening after a clash with security forces in the same square.

According to the Anatolian correspondent, dozens of protesters removed concrete blocks laid by security forces to prevent them from reaching Al-Khalani Square near the Al-Senak Bridge leading to the Green Zone, which houses government buildings and foreign missions.

Has witnessed Tahrir Square in the center of the capital - according to the same reporter - crowds of demonstrators flocked to participate in what they called "Friday steadfastness."

The governorates of Najaf, Basra and Karbala also witnessed demonstrations condemning corruption calling for the liberation of the judiciary and political and economic reform.

Sources in the southern province of Karbala said hundreds of followers of the Sadr movement took part in demonstrations after Friday prayers in response to a previous call by the leader of the movement Muqtada al-Sadr.

It is noteworthy that Sadr earlier called Friday preachers for large demonstrations after the prayer in support of those he called "revolutionaries."

Since the beginning of last October, Iraq has been witnessing popular protests in Baghdad and other provinces, calling for the departure of the government of Adel Abdul Mahdi, which has been in power for more than a year. More than 325 people have been killed and 15,000 injured, according to Anatolian statistics based on figures from the Parliamentary Human Rights Commission, the Human Rights Commission (an official parliament) and medical sources.

Abdul-Mahdi refuses to resign, and requires that political forces first agree on an alternative, warning that the absence of a smooth and rapid alternative will leave the fate of the country for the unknown.

Shiite reference
In this context, the Shiite authority stressed the importance of expediting the enactment of a new law that restores confidence in the electoral process and ensures real change in the country.

Ahmed al-Safi, the representative of the Marjaiya, said in a Friday sermon in Karbala that any new election law that did not bring change would not be acceptable.

It warned against external interference in what it described as the battle of reform waged by the people, and said that these interventions will turn Iraq into an arena for conflict and settling scores.