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News ID: 72312
Publish Date : 03 November 2019 - 20:59

Iraqi PM Urges Measures to Protect Protesters


BAGHDAD (Dispatches) – Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi has gathered the country’s security chiefs for a meeting and called for measures to ensure the safety of protesters amid an ongoing wave of anti-government demonstrations.
During the meeting with the country's security chiefs, which was also attended by Interior Minister Yassin Al-Yasiri, the participants reviewed the performance of security forces in line with their duties to ensure domestic stability, protect peaceful demonstrators, as well as safeguard the country's public and private property and vital installations.
On Sunday, the protesters spilled out into the streets of the capital Baghdad and several other cities, shutting down streets, schools and government offices.
In Baghdad, university students parked their cars in the middle of main thoroughfares, blocking traffic. Police officers manning nearby checkpoints did not intervene.
Students took part in sit-ins at schools, and the national teachers union extended its strike that was launched last week.
At the start of October, street protests erupted in several Iraqi cities over unemployment and a lack of basic services. The rallies resumed on October 25 after a pause of about two weeks, but took a violent turn.
The prime minister has agreed to resign provided that a successor is designated.
It took more than six months of negotiations before Abdul-Mahdi was appointed a year ago. Finding a successor approved by all political factions will not be an easy task.
Iraq Trade Minister Mohammed Hashim al-Aani said on Sunday that ongoing protests delayed discharge of several rice and food shipments at its main port of Umm Qasr.
Protesters blocked all roads leading to Umm Qasr near the oil-rich city of Basra after security forces used live rounds and tear gas overnight.
In Kut to the east, protesters blocked main roads and bridges, and most schools were closed.
Protesters said they will not stop until the message gets to the government and corrupt officials are kicked out.
In Hillah, Nasiriyah, Diwaniyah and the holy city of Karbala, most government offices were closed.
In the country’s southern oil-rich port city of Basra, public schools were shut down for the first time since the demonstrations began last month.
President Barham Salih has promised to call for early elections.
Iraq’s top Shia cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has appealed for calm, warning of the danger of Iraq plunging into a civil war.

An Iraqi demonstrator jump above burning tires as he blocks the road during ongoing anti-government protests, in Baghdad, Iraq November 3, 2019