Clashes resumed today, Friday, in the center of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, between demonstrators and security forces, which resulted - according to medical sources and eyewitnesses - that a number of protesters were wounded and suffocated.
The sources said that a number of demonstrators were injured and suffocated by tear gas in Tahrir Square, noting that two of the wounded were wounded by two gas canisters directly in their bodies.
Witnesses also pointed out that the confrontations renewed between the protesters and the security forces in Al-Wathba Square, adding that the security forces fired a heavy barrage of tear gas canisters at the demonstrators who responded by throwing stones and Molotov cocktails.
Today, the supreme Shiite authority in Iraq, Ali Sistani, condemned the suppression of the anti-government movement and the ruling political elite, especially what happened in Najaf recently, calling for the formation of a new government that enjoys the trust of the people.
This came in a statement read by his representative, Ahmed Al-Safi, in his Friday sermon in the city of Karbala, southern Iraq, and Al-Safi said that "despite the repeated calls of the religious authority, this did not prevent the occurrence of unfortunate and painful incidents during the past days in which blood was spilled unjustly, and most recently what It took place in the holy city of Najaf last Wednesday evening. "
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Rejected for Allawi
Baghdad and the central and southern governorates of the country also witnessed massive protests, which rejected the choice of former Communications Minister Muhammad Tawfiq Allawi to form the new government, and condemned the suppression of protesters by supporters of the Sadrist movement leader Muqtada al-Sadr.
Thousands of demonstrators gathered Friday in public squares and streets in Baghdad and cities and towns in the provinces of Diyala, Babil, Karbala, Najaf, Maysan, Wasit, Diwaniyah, Dhi Qar and Basra.
The demonstrators waved Iraqi flags, held banners and chanted slogans refusing to choose Allawi to form the government, threatening to escalate the protests across Iraq if the authorities did not announce within a week a mechanism for a popular referendum to choose a new prime minister.
Supporters of the chest
And the Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr had ordered his supporters known as the owners of the "blue hats" to work with the security forces to disperse the gatherings of protesters under the pretext of deporting "saboteurs and invaders", and after that his supporters began a coordinated campaign to storm the protesters' squares in Baghdad and other cities in the center and south of the country, and they used excessive force , Including live bullets.
And on Wednesday, 11 demonstrators were killed and 122 others were injured in the "Blue Hats" attack on protesters protesting in Sadrin Square in the center of Najaf.
In the city of Karbala, Sadr supporters stormed the sit-in yesterday, wounding 10 protesters.
The protesters are demanding an honest, independent, and former prime minister who previously did not hold high positions, far from subordination to parties and other countries, as well as the departure and accountability of all political elites accused of corruption and waste of state funds, which have governed since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003.