Young Iraqi protesters pushed on with anti-government rallies across the country on Thursday as they buried seven fellow activists killed overnight in violence blamed on supporters of powerful cleric Moqtada Sadr.

Sadr -- a militiaman-turned-politician with a cult-like following -- had backed the rallies demanding the ouster of the entire political class when they erupted in October but has since then changed course.

In supporting ex-minister Mohammad Allawi as Iraq's new premier, Sadr split with the rest of the popular movement, and his diehard followers have turned on rival protesters.

Late Wednesday, Sadrists raided a protest camp in Iraq's shrine city of Najaf where demonstrators had been chanting against Allawi.

Seven anti-government protesters were killed by bullets to the head or chest, medics in the city said, and dozens more were wounded.

On Thursday morning, the dead were wrapped in white shrouds and carefully laid in coffins draped with Iraqi flags, then carried in a funeral march through the city.

Young Iraqis, sobbing, grasped at the coffins as they were carried past.

Despite the bloodshed, Iraqis gathered for renewed rallies, with hundreds of students flooding Baghdad's Tahrir Square.

"Whether ten or 100 die, I won't abandon this cause!" they chanted, as a girl stood silently nearby with a banner that read, "Our martyrs are our candidates".

High school student Tayba walked into Tahrir alone, an Iraqi flag tied around her shoulders.

"We've finally got used to it," she said somberly, of the violence in Najaf.

"In fact, we're even more determined. Before, the students used to hold just one demonstration a week, now there are three."

- 'Masks have fallen off' -

Nearly 490 people have been killed and 30,000 wounded since October, most of them demonstrators, according to a count compiled by AFP from security and medical sources.

The demonstrators have demanded a total overhaul of the ruling system and have rejected Allawi -- nominated on February 1 to replace Adel Abdel Mahdi, who stepped down in December -- as too close to the political elite.

Sadr's endorsement of Allawi prompted a sudden escalation in tensions with other demonstrators, which spilled over on Monday when an anti-government protester was stabbed to death in Hilla, south of the capital.

Sadr has ostensibly tried to calm the tensions in the days since, but for those in Tahrir, the damage was done.

"Did you see what happened in Najaf? The masks have fallen off," said Mohammad, a university student who has skipped class every day since October to protest.

"We've even told the Sadrists here that they were supposed to secure the square and their guys are the ones doing this -- but they don't listen to us," he told AFP.

For demonstrators in Nasiriyah further south, the deaths in Najaf are only the latest episode of their bloodstained uprising.

"Demonstrators were shot dead, kidnapped, assassinated, and now their camps are attacked in broad daylight under the watchful eye of the security forces," said Adnan Dafar, a protester.

- Allawi speaks out -

In Diwaniyah, protesters added Sadr to their chants denouncing the Hashed al-Shaabi, an Iraqi military network led by Hadi Ameri which many have blamed for violence against protesters.

"No Moqtada, No Hadi! My country will stay free!" they repeated.

On Thursday, the United Nations' top representative in Baghdad condemned the bloodshed in Najaf.

"Protection of peaceful protesters should be guaranteed at all times, not when it is too late," she said.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said officials in his country were "outraged" by the violence in Najaf.

"It is unconscionable that the perpetrators continue to act with impunity," Pompeo said, urging the Iraqi government "to take immediate steps to hold accountable the militias, thugs, and vigilante groups in Najaf and other cities for their attacks against Iraqis exercising their right to peaceful protest".

Allawi made a televised statement on Thursday afternoon calling the situation "not acceptable at all".

"The next government's priority will be serious investigations into the violations against protesters and security forces and holding whoever was behind them responsible, whoever they may be," he said.

Allawi even hinted at a possible resignation, saying such attacks would make it "impossible to continue with the task assigned to me."

When he announced his candidacy, Allawi had extended a hand to protesters and urged them to keep up their rallies.

He has since met with representatives of the movement, pledging to release anyone detained for demonstrating, compensate the families of those killed in protest-related violence and work with the UN to implement demonstrators' demands.

Allawi also pledged to include demonstrators as he seeks to form his cabinet, which he must do by March 2.

Until it is confirmed by parliament with a vote of confidence, Allawi remains PM-designate.

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Seven killed as rival protesters clash in Iraq's Najaf
Najaf, Iraq (AFP) Feb 5, 2020
Seven people were shot dead on Wednesday in Iraq's shrine city of Najaf after supporters of powerful cleric Moqtada Sadr raided an anti-government protest camp, medics told AFP. It marked the bloodiest episode yet in the escalating tensions between Sadr, a militiaman-turned-politician with a cult-like following across Iraq, and decentralised rallies that have demanded regime change since October. Sadr had initially backed the demonstrations but split with them suddenly this weekend, endorsing Mo ... read more