Sadr calls for continuation of 'peaceful revolution'

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – Protesters supporting the Iraqi Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr stormed into Iraq’s parliament building.

Addressing his supporters, Sadr gave a speech in Baghdad on Saturday shortly after the Iraqi parliament failed to complete quorum to vote for Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s new cabinet ministers.

Sadr asked the protesters to continue what he called a “peaceful revolution” and stated that “the corrupt people continue to build barriers before making reforms in the country.”

After Sadr’s speech, hundreds of protesters affiliated with the Shia Cleric breached Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone and stormed the Iraqi parliament building. Later, the protesters advanced towards the General Secretariat for Council of Minister and stormed the building.

According to Shakhawan Abdulla, a Kurdish MP in the Iraqi parliament, most of the Kurdish MPs and officials left Baghdad for the Kurdistan Region. “There are still some Kurdish MPs, as well as the Parliament Deputy Speaker stuck inside the building,” he said.

“What has happened was pre-planned, because it was right after Muqtada al-Sadr’s speech,” Abdulla added.

After the events in Baghdad’s Green Zone, Baghdad Operations Command declared a state of “high alert” in the Iraqi capital. Additionally, Abadi said in a statement released by his office that “the situation in Baghdad is under the control of Iraqi security forces.”

News sources in Baghdad say that Sadr has called protesters to leave the parliament building and other government buildings. Instead, he has advised the protestors to hold a sit-in at the Festival and Parade Ground inside the Green Zone.

The Iraqi parliament held a session on Tuesday in the second hall to vote on the Prime Minister’s cabinet, after the MPs previously held a sit-in at the primary parliament hall preventing Abadi from presenting his council.

Reporting by Baxtiyar Goran
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany