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BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) – Iraq's most revered Iraqi religious leader has called for a political upheaval in Baghdad and the cessation of violence against protesters on Friday after days of deadly demonstrations in the main South Port city.
Iraqi protesters are seen at a demonstration near the government office building in Basra, Iraq. REUTERS / Alaa al-Marjani
Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the supreme authority of most members of the Iraqi Shiite majority, blamed political leaders for the unrest and said a new government should be formed, "different from its predecessors".
At least 10 protesters have died since Monday in Basra, a city of 2 million inhabitants where residents who complain about the collapse of infrastructure, leaving them without electricity or drinking water in the middle of summer, have set fire to government buildings and confronted security forces.
On Thursday, protesters intensified the unrest by closing Umm Qasr, the country's main seaport, 60 km south of Basra, which handles the vast majority of a country's food-dependent imports overseas. feed its 37 million citizens.
It remained closed on Friday, local officials and security sources said. Iraqi oil exports from offshore platforms have not been affected.
In Basra, protesters stormed several provincial government buildings, burned down the local government headquarters and blocked main roads in the city center.
FAILINGS OF LEADERS
Iraqi politicians have so far failed to agree on a new government after an inconclusive election in May. The new parliament finally met on Monday for the first time, but separated after a day without any faction getting enough votes to elect a speaker let alone appoint the next prime minister .
Sistani, an 88-year-old religious who normally stands above the day-to-day politics, is known to intervene in politics when he sees the future of the country in danger.
In his prayer sermon on Friday, read by an assistant, he called for an end to the violence against "peaceful demonstrations" and accused politicians of corruption, poverty and unemployment.
"The failures of Iraqi political leaders in recent years have angered the people of Basra," Sistani said.
"This reality can not change if the next government is formed according to the same criteria as in the formation of previous governments. There must be pressure for the new government to be different from its predecessors. "
The interim leader of Parliament summoned lawmakers to an emergency session Saturday to discuss unrest.
The Iraqi political factions rallied mainly during a war in 2014-2017 against ISIS fighters who seized large swathes of the north of the country. Its two most influential allies, Washington and Tehran, have also supported the Baghdad government despite their deep hostility.
But since the Islamic State was largely defeated last year, other divisions have reappeared. Shiites in the south, where most of Iraq's oil wealth is produced, say Baghdad politicians have squandered public funds while leaving them desperate.
Moqtada al-Sadr, a Shiite populist cleric whose electoral bloc came first in the May elections, said on Twitter that Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi should release more funds for Basra to improve conditions in the country. country.
Sadr, the former leader of an anti-American Shiite sectarian militia who reinvented himself as an anti-corruption activist, joined forces with Abadi.
Their alliance is competing to form a government against a rival bloc backed by Abadi's predecessor, Nuri al-Maliki, and the leader of an Iran-backed Shiite armed group, Hadi al-Amiri.
Sadr on Thursday called for an emergency session of parliament and Abadi and other senior officials. Abadi said that he would do it.
Reports made by Aref Mohammed to Basra and Raya Jalabi in Erbil; Written by Raya Jalabi; Edited by Peter Graff
