Developments in Iraq follow after the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, announced today, Monday, his retirement from political action.
Iraqi medical sources said that 10 people were killed and 200 wounded - including a number of security personnel - in the Green Zone and its surroundings.
Al-Jazeera correspondent Salam Hindawi stated that large numbers of supporters of the Sadrist movement withdrew from the Green Zone in Baghdad.
The Iraqi security forces had announced that they had regained full control of the government palace headquarters after the Sadrist movement's supporters were removed from it by force.
Al-Jazeera correspondent in Baghdad, Samer Youssef, said that the security forces fired heavily inside the Green Zone in Baghdad, and were able to control the palace after expelling the demonstrators from it.
The reporter added that the security forces stopped Al Jazeera crew members for several minutes and smashed their camera, before expelling them from the vicinity of the government palace.
An hour before that, Iraqi forces dispersed with tear gas and water cannons, supporters of the Sadrist movement who tried to storm the presidential residence.
The Iraqi security forces closed the Al-Jumhuriya and Al-Sinak bridges in central Baghdad and the road leading to the state TV building.
Supporters of the Sadrist movement had stormed the government palace building inside the Green Zone, while the Iraqi Prime Minister announced the suspension of cabinet sessions until further notice, and also announced a state of maximum alert in Baghdad for all security forces.
curfew
In turn, the Iraqi Joint Operations Command announced a comprehensive curfew in all governorates, starting at seven in the evening today, Monday.
In a statement, she called on citizens to fully cooperate with all security agencies, abide by the curfew, and stay away from malicious rumors.
The Iraqi Joint Operations Command added that the security forces affirm their responsibility to protect government institutions and international missions, and that they carry out their duty to protect security and stability.
She pointed out that the security forces adhered to the highest levels of restraint to prevent clashes or the spilling of Iraqi blood.
And the Iraqi News Agency reported that the Baghdad Operations Commander issued a directive to strengthen protection for government departments and banks.
Earlier, the Iraqi army announced a comprehensive curfew in Baghdad, starting at 2:30 p.m. today, Monday (local time), after al-Sadr's supporters stormed the Republican Palace, which is an official building designated for events and is different from the presidential palace, which is the official residence of the President of the Republic.
The security forces evacuated Cabinet and Presidency employees, following the storming of the two buildings by al-Sadr's supporters.
Sadr's supporters celebrate inside the presidential palace (Reuters)
Extreme Alert Status
The Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, also decided to suspend cabinet sessions until further notice due to demonstrators entering the council’s headquarters, and announced a state of maximum alert in Baghdad for all security forces.
The Iraqi Prime Minister - while presiding over an emergency meeting of the security leaders at the headquarters of the joint operations - called on the security leaders to fully commit to protecting the lives of demonstrators and preserving public and private property.
In a statement, Al-Kazemi called on the demonstrators to immediately withdraw from the Green Zone and abide by the instructions of the security forces, and Muqtada al-Sadr called for help in calling on the demonstrators to withdraw from government institutions.
The Iraqi Prime Minister said that the demonstrators' bypassing state institutions is a condemned act and outside legal contexts, criticizing what he called the persistence of the political dispute to the point of harming all state institutions.
As for Hoshyar Zebari, a leader in the Kurdistan Democratic war and a former foreign minister, he said that what happened today in Baghdad was a cumulative result of arbitrary, short-sighted judicial policies, interests and decisions.
Cold and peace for the people of Iraq.
What happened today in Baghdad was a cumulative result of short-sighted arbitrary policies, interests and judicial decisions.
We alerted them at the time when they disrupted the project of the majority government and reform, and the lack of respect for the will of the people when they expressed their opinion in the October 2021 elections.
Peace is in the house of peace.
— Hoshyar Zebari (@HoshyarZebari) August 29, 2022
For his part, Haider al-Abadi, the former prime minister and head of the Iraqi victory coalition, called for calm and restraint and not to be drawn into sedition.
Al-Abadi called on Iraqis to unite and prevent abuses of private and public rights.
In turn, the leader of the Iraqi National Coalition, Iyad Allawi, said that there is no way to solve the political crisis except through national dialogue.
The coordination framework in Iraq also called on the Sadrist movement to return to the dialogue table, saying that everyone should stave off sedition, give priority to the language of reason and dialogue, and spare the country chaos and bloodshed.
He added that it is not possible to stand neutral when state institutions are attacked and collapsed, calling on the government and security institutions to protect state institutions and public and private interests.
Iraqi President Barham Salih also called on the demonstrators to withdraw from official institutions, and to allow the security forces to carry out their duties.
In turn, the Ministry of Education decided to postpone the ministerial exams for primary and middle schools.
outside Baghdad
Pictures showed supporters of the Sadrist movement besieging the Court of Appeal in the Federal Governorate of Maysan, southeast of Iraq.
Iraqi security officials said that Sadr's supporters were blocking the entrances to Umm Qasr port in Basra province.
Al-Jazeera correspondent said that supporters of the Sadrist movement closed the headquarters of the Dhi Qar Governorate building in the city of Nasiriyah.
Al-Sadr's supporters also stormed the headquarters of Diyala province, east of the capital, Baghdad, and pictures broadcast by activists showed dozens of them wandering inside the corridors of the province's headquarters.
In Wasit Governorate, Sadr's supporters stormed the governorate building and took control of it completely.
chest retirement
The crisis erupted when Muqtada al-Sadr announced - this morning, Monday - his permanent retirement from political life and the closure of his institutions.
Al-Sadr said - in a statement posted on his official account on Twitter - that he will close "all institutions except the Holy Shrine, the Noble Museum and the honorable Al-Sadr Heritage Authority."
He continued, "Everyone is free from me, and if I die or are killed, I ask you Al-Fatihah and supplication."
As stated in the statement by Muqtada al-Sadr, “I have never claimed infallibility or diligence, not even leadership. Rather, I enjoin good and forbid evil, and to God is the consequence of matters, and I only wanted to correct the distortion, which was the biggest cause of which was the Shiite political forces as the majority. I just wanted to bring her closer to her people and feel their suffering.”
This comes at a time when Sadr's followers are stationed - for the fifth week in a row - in front of the headquarters of the Iraqi parliament in and outside the government's Green Zone to demand the dissolution of the Iraqi parliament.
Today, Monday, some followers of Muqtada al-Sadr stormed the government's Green Zone (in central Baghdad), and besieged the Iraqi government building, under strict security measures.
A source in the Iraqi presidency stated that dozens of demonstrators stormed the Republican Palace inside the Green Zone, which was shown by some videos circulating on the communication sites.
This came after some supporters of the Sadrist movement toppled concrete blocks from the protection wall of the Iraqi parliament after they managed to penetrate it.
The Joint Operations Command said that the security forces affirm their responsibility to protect government institutions and international missions.
pic.twitter.com/XKAzl1O3OP
- Muqtada al-Sayyid Muhammad al-Sadr (@Mu_AlSadr) August 29, 2022
On the other hand, the crowd of the Shiite coordination framework gathers at the southern gate of the Green Zone in the form of a sit-in demanding the formation of the new Iraqi government and the resumption of the work of the Iraqi parliament.
Invitations to dialogue
The three Iraqi presidencies - earlier today, Monday - renewed their support for Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi's call to hold a new round of national dialogue this week to discuss and discuss ideas and initiatives related to resolving the current crisis, in the presence of the Sadrist movement.
A statement by the Presidency of the Republic stated that Iraqi President Barham Salih held a meeting today, in the presence of Al-Kazemi, Parliament Speaker Muhammad Al-Halbousi and the President of the Supreme Judicial Council, Judge Faiq Zaidan, to discuss developments on the national scene.
The conferees stressed that "preserving security, stability, and the democratic and constitutional path in Iraq is the duty of all Iraqis as it is the duty of state institutions and national political forces, and that constructive dialogue is the right way to end all current differences in order to preserve the country's capabilities."
They also stressed the high appreciation of reform initiatives at all levels, the development of the work of various institutions and the fight against corruption, and the need for the national dialogue to take its course to discuss everything that would translate the aspirations of the people into an actual reality.
The leader of the Sadrist movement suggested - the day before yesterday, Saturday - that "all parties" give up the government positions they hold to allow the political crisis in Iraq to be resolved.
Sadrist Minister Salih Muhammad al-Iraqi said - in a tweet at the time, quoting the leader of the movement - that "there is more important than dissolving parliament and holding early elections," according to what was reported by the Iraqi News Agency (INA).
He added that "the most important thing is not to involve all parties and personalities that participated in the political process since the US occupation in 2003 and to this day, including the Sadrist movement."
And earlier this August, Al-Kazemi launched a "national dialogue" to try to get Iraq out of the impasse, but representatives of the Sadrist movement and their leader boycotted this initiative, and considered that it "resulted only in some points that do not fatten and do not sing from hunger."