IRAQI ARMY DECLARED “NATIONWIDE, INDEFINITE CURFEW”!
Supporters riot at government headquarters after Sadr withdraws from politics
Iraq’s Shiite leader Moqtada al-Assadr has raised tensions in the country by announcing that he will leave political life forever and close his political office.
Gunfire broke out in the Green Zone and security forces used tear gas to disperse Sadr supporters who had gathered in the area on Monday. At least two people died and 19 were injured, according to police and health workers.
Sadr’s announcement on Twitter followed months of protests by supporters of his call for the sacking of Iraq’s parliament, which has been locked in a 10-month stalemate, Iraq’s longest ever. There is no government – and new elections. A necklace
Sadr said: I hereby announce that I am finally quitting. He added that “all institutions” related to Sadr’s movement will be closed, except for the mausoleum and other heritage sites where his father was assassinated in 1999.
Sadr’s supporters quickly got the message. Hundreds of people used ropes to lower the concrete barriers in front of the palace and broke down the palace gates. Many flocked to the building’s ornate and marble halls, an important meeting place for Iraqi heads of state and foreign dignitaries. The supporters, who have been sitting outside the Iraqi parliament since late July, also turned against a counter-protest organized by Sadr’s Shiite opponents. Both sides throw stones at each other
