Iraq .. Student solidarity with the protesters and the closure of the entrance to the port of Umm Qasr

Al-Jazeera correspondent in Baghdad reported that a number of students have arrived since this morning on Tahrir Square (center of the Iraqi capital) in solidarity with the demonstrators in their protests, which entered its 25th day, while protesters closed the entrance of the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr and blocked a number of other roads.

The correspondent added that the Free Bridge in Baghdad is relatively calm after a night of clashes between demonstrators and security forces, a day after the announcement of a general strike in Baghdad and a number of southern provinces.

This comes as renewed protests in Baghdad and nine Iraqi provinces to demand the dismissal of the government and dissolve parliament and amend paragraphs in the Constitution.

The demonstrations in Tahrir, Khalani and Hafez al-Qadi in Baghdad, Basra, Nasiriyah, Missan, Muthanna, Wasit, Diwaniyah, Najaf, Karbala, and Babylon are witnessing an influx of demonstrators to express their support for the demands of the demonstrators carrying Iraqi flags.

The Iraqi authorities closed the concrete blocks of Al-Ahrar Bridge, the third bridge to be closed in Baghdad, after the demonstrators were stationed in Hafez Al-Qadi square opposite the bridge at the middle of Al-Rashid Street.

Close routes
In this context, local sources said that the demonstrators closed the refinery in Karbala (west of the city) and bridge Sadr Medical Hospital in Najaf.

In Basra province, demonstrators blocked the road leading to the port of Umm Qasr, one of the most important ports in southern Iraq.

The closure has crippled truckloads of goods in and out of the port and prevented employees from going to work, resulting in a 50% drop in operations.

If the siege continues even after this afternoon, the operations will stop completely, according to two sources at the port of Umm Qasr.

The port entrances were closed from 29 October to 9 November with a brief resumption of operations between 7 and 9 November.

Port and importance
The port of Umm Qasr, Iraq's main port on the Gulf, receives shipments of grain, vegetable oils and sugar to a country heavily dependent on food imports.

A government spokesman said at the time that the blockade had cost the country more than $ 6 billion in the first week to close the port only.

The demonstrators also closed a number of roads leading to about twenty oil wells west of Basra.

More than 300 people have been killed since massive protests began in Baghdad and southern Iraq in early October, the largest since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Protesters are demanding the overthrow of a political class they consider corrupt and captive of foreign interests.