The Iraqi government faced more pressure late Saturday from a surprise sit-in by lawmakers linked to populist cleric Moqtada al-Sadr amid persistent mass protests across the country.

Thousands of Iraqis returned to the streets in the capital Baghdad and across the south over the last two days, defying curfews and violence that has left over 60 dead.

Sadr, a firebrand former militia leader, has thrown his weight behind the protests by demanding the government resign and Iraq hold early parliamentary elections.

Saturday night, members of his Saeroon bloc -- parliament's largest with 54 MPs -- escalated the situation.

MP Badr al-Zayadi said they had begun an open-ended "sit-in, until the enactment of all reforms the Iraqi people are demanding."

Zayadi told AFP the bloc had sent an "official request" to Iraq's president, who according to the constitution can ask parliament to withdraw confidence from the premier.

The move has put Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi under more pressure than ever as Saeroon was one of the two main sponsors of his government.

He faced relentless protests on Friday despite efforts in Baghdad and across the south to clamp down on them.

Late Saturday, street lights were turned off around Baghdad's Tahrir (Liberation) square, plunging protesters clinging onto their positions there into darkness.

Witnesses said security forces were unleashing volleys of tear gas to clear the crowds, each canister lighting up the smoke-filled square with flashes of light.

Explosions could be heard from the square well past midnight.

- Vows of 'revenge' -

In the south, rallies continued in Diwaniyah, Nasiriyah, Babylon and Najaf.

They have taken a dangerous new turn in recent days as protesters torched dozens of provincial government buildings and offices tied to the powerful Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force.

The latest round of demonstrations has been notably violent, with 63 people killed and more than 2,000 wounded over just two days, according to the Iraqi Human Rights Commission.

That has pushed the death toll for so far this month to 220.

Top Hashed commanders have threatened revenge after their offices were attacked, and denounced those they said aimed at sowing "discord and chaos" in the country.

Hashed was founded in 2014 to fight the Islamic State group but its factions have since been ordered to incorporate into the state security services.

"Public anger is directed at them in addition to governorate councils, for they were the obvious face of 'the regime'," wrote Harith Hasan, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center.

But the attacks could also hint at political rivalries between the Hashed and Sadr.

"The Sadrists, especially in their traditional strongholds such as Missan, saw this an opportunity to act against competing militias," such as Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Badr and Kataeb Hezbollah, Hasan said on Twitter.

The United Nations said it was "tragic" to see renewed violence but also warned against "armed spoilers".

"Armed entities sabotaging the peaceful demonstrations, eroding the government's credibility and ability to act, cannot be tolerated," said the UN top official in Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert.

- 'It's enough!' -

Oil-rich Iraq is OPEC's second biggest producer but one in five people live below the poverty line and youth unemployment stands at 25 percent, according to the World Bank.

About 60 percent of Iraq's 40-million-strong population is under the age of 25.

The staggering rates of joblessness and graft allegations have been at the root of protesters' anger, which the government has struggled to quell.

Abdel Mahdi has proposed a laundry list of reforms, including hiring drives, increased pensions and a cabinet reshuffle.

New education and health ministers were approved by parliament earlier this month, the only time it was able to meet since protests began.

But a scheduled meeting of parliament on Saturday to discuss the latest protests failed to take place due to a lack of a quorum.

Protesters so far have seemed unimpressed by the government's efforts.

"They told people: 'Go home, we'll give you pensions and come up with a solution'. They tricked us," said one of the rare woman protesters on Saturday, her young son at her side.

Some protesters have directed some of their anger at Sadr and the country's top Shiite religious authority, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who is deeply revered among most Iraqis.

"Sadr, Sistani -- this is a shame," a protester in Tahrir said on Saturday.

"We were hit! It's enough," he said, waving a tear gas canister fired earlier by security forces.

Iraqi paramilitaries threaten 'revenge' after offices torched
Baghdad (AFP) Oct 26, 2019 - The heads of powerful Iraqi paramilitary factions threatened they would take "revenge" on Saturday after their offices in the south of the country were torched during deadly protests.

Demonstrators set fire to dozens of government buildings and offices belonging to the influential Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force across southern cities late Friday.

In Missan province, the headquarters of the Asaib Ahl Al-Haq, one of the Hashed factions, was torched and a leading commander of the group reportedly killed.

Wissam al-Alyawi was later pronounced dead by the group, after footage circulated online showing him writhing in an ambulance as a crowd of men tried to break into it.

Asaib chief Qais al-Khazaali was in Baghdad on Saturday for the funeral procession of Alyawi and his brother Issam, apparently killed in the same incident.

"His blood is on America and Israel's hands, but I will take revenge -- many times over," Khazaali told mourners, holding back tears as he stood next to their wailing mother.

"This blood is proof to all our people of the size of the conspiracy that is targeting us," he said.

Dozens of Hashed fighters were gathered in military fatigues for the procession in central Baghdad, just a few districts south of where protests were taking place in Tahrir (Liberation) Square.

Another paramilitary force, Saraya al-Salam, had also been spotted in Baghdad in recent days after their leader Moqtada al-Sadr threw his weight behind the demonstrations.

The Hashed was founded in 2014 to fight the Islamic State group but its factions have since been ordered to incorporate into the state security services.

The US and Israel fear some of the factions are too closely tied to Iran, their regional foe.

The Badr Organisation, a powerful Iranian-backed armed group whose offices were set alight in the southern city of Diwaniyah, also blamed Israel and the United States for Alyawi's death.

"They don't want a stable Iraq. They want to pull it into discord and chaos," said its head Hadi al-Ameri, who also attended the funeral.

And Harakat Nujaba, an Iraqi paramilitary faction close to Iran, warned protesters to stay peaceful.

"Take a careful look, and let us be united," it said in an online statement.

On Saturday, three people died in the southern city of Nasiriyah as they tried to torch a local official's home, a police source told AFP, and three protesters also died in Baghdad, according to the Iraqi Human Rights Commission.

The violence came a day after 42 protesters died from live rounds, tear gas canisters or while torching government buildings or Hashed offices in the south.

The storming of those buildings marks a new phase in the south, and authorities imposed strict curfews that prevented renewed protests Saturday in most of those cities.

There have been no such incidents so far in the capital, where hundreds of protesters were still gathering.

The United Nations on Saturday said it was "tragic" to see renewed violence but also warned against "armed spoilers".

"Armed entities sabotaging the peaceful demonstrations, eroding the government's credibility and ability to act, cannot be tolerated," said the UN top official in Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert.

Related Links
Iraq: The first technology war of the 21st century

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

157 dead in Iraq protests: new official toll
Baghdad (AFP) Oct 22, 2019
The death toll from week-long anti-government protests that erupted in Baghdad and southern Iraq at the start of October totalled 157, an official inquiry announced Tuesday, ahead of further demonstrations. It also said commanders from across the security forces had been dismissed in the wake of the violence, including from the army, police, anti-terror, anti-riot, anti-crime, intelligence and national security units. The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq, in a report of its own, said t ... read more