After a couple of days of relative calm, protesters were back out in force on Friday in Iraq, declaring a “million man march” which saw thousands of people in several major cities continuing anti-government protests.
Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani’s Friday sermon once again endorsed the protesters, as he issued a statement calling for Iraq to hurry up and adopt a reformed electoral law, saying it was time to give in to protesters and move beyond the crisis.
Iraqi riot police, however, were out in force on Friday, as they have been throughout the rallies, attacking the protesters, and killing at least ten more protesters over the course of Friday.
Violent crackdowns in Iraq have generally proven unsuccessful in ending the marches, and the fact that the government keeps going back to that strategy suggests they have little else to offer. Previous offers of reform showed some signs of being accepted, though the reforms never happened, and protesters are less and less willing to buy the promises as anything real.
Skip to content
Original and up-to-date news