Iraq declared a nationwide state of siege on Monday after two people were killed in a shooting in Baghdad’s chaotic Green Zone after Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr announced his “permanent retirement” from politics, AFP writes.

Iraq is in a political stalemate after parliamentary elections in October 2021 and is in a state of permanent crisis.

On Monday, the situation in the capital suddenly worsened: after an unexpected statement by their leader, one of the most important actors in Iraqi politics, hundreds of Sadrists invaded the Palace of the Republic, where the Council of Ministers is located, reports AFP. journalists

As they occupied offices, sat in chairs, jumped into the pool or took selfies, police intervened, firing tear gas to disperse the protesters at the entrance to the green zone, a security source told AFP.

But the state of siege declared by the army in Baghdad and throughout Iraq did not solve anything: the chaos spread to the Green Zone.

Shots

Several people were shot near the entrances to the green zone, which is now isolated and very well guarded, AFP journalists reported.

Witnesses told AFP that gunfire broke out between the Sadrists and supporters of the Coordination Framework, a pro-Iranian rival of Moqtada Sadr’s camp.

Two supporters of Moqtada Sadr were killed and 22 others were injured.

The UN mission in Iraq, which is based in the Green Zone, asked the demonstrators to leave the country, calling on all parties to exercise “maximum restraint”.

For almost a year, political leaders have not been able to agree on a new prime minister.

Therefore, in Iraq, one of the world’s largest oil producers, there was neither a government nor a president after the parliamentary elections.

To get out of the crisis, Moqtada Sadr and the Coordination Structure agree on one thing: new early elections are needed. But while Moqtada Sadr insists on dissolving parliament, his opponents want to appoint a government first.

In connection with the seizure of the Palace of the Republic, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kazimi suspended the Council of Ministers “until further notice” and convened an emergency meeting on security issues at the headquarters of the military command.

Moqtada Sadr, as influential as he is unpredictable, has not stopped raising the stakes in recent weeks: Over the past month, his supporters have set up camp outside parliament and even briefly blocked access to the country’s highest judicial body.

On Monday, in a new twist, he announced his “final retirement” from politics and the closure of several institutions linked to his family.

The Shiite leader is one of the political heavyweights who could worsen the crisis or lead the country out of impasse, as his religious and political aura is enjoyed by a section of Iraq’s majority Shiite community.

He came first in the legislative election with 73 seats (out of 329), but failed to form a majority and forced his MPs to resign in June, claiming he wanted to “reform” the system from the top down and end “corruption”. .

h2. “terrible”

For Hamzeh Hadad, a visiting researcher at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), his statement is “not very clear”.

“According to the sadistic tradition, we can expect him to back down,” he told AFP. But, “and this is even scarier, you might think he’s giving his followers the green light to do whatever they want by saying he’s no longer responsible for their actions.”

On Saturday, Moqtada Sadr gave “72 hours” to “all parties” in power since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003 – including his own – to leave their government posts and make way for “reforms”.

The dispute between the Sadrists and the Coordination Structure has not yet escalated into an armed conflict, but the Hashd al-Shaabi, a former paramilitary group aligned with Tehran and integrated into the Iraqi forces, has announced that it is ready to “defend the institutions of the state.”

Moqtada Sadr, born in 1974, has never ruled. This became known after the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, in particular through the creation of the Mehdi Army, a “resistance” militia against the occupiers.

In his statement released on Monday, he did not, however, mention the Mehdi Army or the Peace Brigades, another armed group under his command, created in 2014 after Mosul was captured by Islamic State (IS) jihadists.