Home ›› 31 Aug 2022 ›› Back
Iraqi supporters of powerful cleric Moqtada Sadr began withdrawing Tuesday from Baghdad’s Green Zone after he demanded fighting end between rival Shiite forces and the army that left 23 dead and hundreds wounded.
The violence that erupted on Monday pitted Sadr loyalists against Shiite factions backed by neighbouring Iran, with the sides exchanging gunfire across barricades -- violence the United Nations warned risked tipping the war-ravaged country deeper into chaos.
Moments after Sadr’s speech was broadcast live on television, his supporters were seen beginning to leave the Green Zone, and minutes after that, the army lifted a nation-wide curfew.
Sadr, a grey-bearded preacher with millions of devoted followers who once led a militia against American and Iraqi government forces after the 2003 US-led overthrow of dictator Saddam Hussein, gave followers “60 minutes” to withdraw after which he would threaten to “disavow” those who remained.
“I apologise to the Iraqi people, the only ones affected by the events,” Sadr said in a speech from his base in the central city of Najaf.
“Shame on this revolution... Regardless of who was the initiator, this revolution, as long as it is marred by violence, is not a revolution,” he said.
“I thank the security forces and members of Hashed al-Shaabi,” he added.
Tensions have soared in Iraq amid a political crisis that has left the country without a new government, prime minister or president for months.
