In the streets of Baghdad, several thousand people also headed for the “green zone”. For fear of overflows, the Iraqi army has decreed a “complete curfew in the capital”, from 3.30 pm (local time), Monday.
Le Monde With AFP
The Iraqi army decreed, Monday August 29, a curfew from 3:30 p.m. in Baghdad (2:30 p.m. Paris time), while supporters of Moqtada al-Sadr invaded the palace of the Republic in response to the “final withdrawal” of the policy of the Shiite leader.
The sympathizers of the religious and political leader “entered the Palais de la République”, located in the ultra -seconded “green zone” whose access has been closed, said a security source under the cover of the anonymity.
According to a photographer from the France-Presse agency (AFP), the demonstrators took place in a meeting room, some brandishing Iraqi flags. Others bathe in a pool in the garden.
“final removal” by Moqtada al-Sadr of politics
The Palais de la République is located in the emblematic “green zone” of Baghdad and usually hosts the Council of Ministers. In the streets of Baghdad, several thousand sadists headed for this city center enclosure by chanting “Moqtada! Moqtada!”, According to an AFP journalist.
By fear of overflows, the Iraqi army therefore decreed a “complete curfew in the capital”, which “concerns all vehicles and all citizens from 3:30 p.m. Monday,” said command of joint operations in a press release.
In the morning, Mr. Al-Sadr announced his “final withdrawal” of politics. “I had decided not to interfere in political affairs. I therefore now announce my final withdrawal and the closure of all institutions with the exception of the sacred mausoleum [of his father Mohammed Sadeq al-Sadr died in 1999 ], of the museum of honor and the authority of the heritage al-Sadr, “he wrote on Twitter.
No new government since October 2021
The very influential Shiite Clerk, accustomed to shine, announced its withdrawal while Iraq has been mired in a deep political crisis since the legislative elections of October 2021. Rich in oil but overwhelmed by a serious crisis Economic and social, the country still has no new prime minister or new government, the Shiite forces, including that of Mr. Al-Sadr, not being able to agree on their method of designation.
For weeks, Mr. Al-Sadr, who has tens of thousands of supporters among the population, demanded the dissolution of the Parliament and new anticipated legislative elections to try to unravel the crisis. More generally, it requires “reform” from top to bottom of the Iraqi political system and the end of “corruption”.
In the showdown who opposed his Shiite opponents of the coordination framework, an alliance of pro-Iran factions, Mr. Al-Sadr had further brought up the auctions since the end of July. Born in 1974, he has never governed himself since the fall of former dictator Saddam Hussein, in 2003. But his fief of the holy city of Nadjaf (center), his religious and political aura carries in a party of the Shiite community, majority in Iraq.