Cleric tells supporters to withdraw from Baghdad green zone after 30 die in unrest

A powerful Iraqi Shia cleric on Tuesday called on his supporters to pull back immediately from Baghdad’s heavily fortified green zone, after nearly 24 hours of fierce fighting with militia groups tied to his Iran-backed rivals that left 30 dead and hundreds more wounded.

The unrest erupted after Moqtada al-Sadr said he would withdraw from politics. Hordes of his loyalists were out in the streets of Iraq’s capital within hours of his declaration on Monday. They broke through the concrete barriers of the heavily fortified green zone, which houses the parliament, many foreign embassies and government buildings.

Many of the cleric’s followers had been blockading parliament for the past four weeks in protest at a protracted stand-off that has left the country without a functioning government since parliamentary elections were held in October. Mr Sadr’s movement won the largest share of seats but he was not able to secure a majority government after refusing to include his rivals.

The cleric, in a televised speech on Tuesday afternoon, set a deadline for his followers to leave following the violent clashes. “Within 60 minutes, if the Sadrist Movement does not withdraw, including from the sit-in at parliament, then even I will leave the movement,” Sadr said.

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Soon after his speech ended, groups of men began clearing out of the government complex, security officials said, the shooting had stopped and authorities lifted the nationwide curfew that had been in place since the night before. Sadr also expressed contrition during his speech. “My head is down and I apologise to the Iraqi people,” he said. “The spilling of Iraqi blood is forbidden.”

The lack of a functioning government for 10 months has left Iraq mired in one of its worst crises since the US-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003. The impasse marks the longest period that fractious political groups have taken to agree on a new administration since the first US-backed election in 2005.

Sadr in June withdrew from the protracted government formation talks in protest, pushing Iraq into uncertainty and leaving it marred by intensifying discord between Shia groups that have ruled the country since 2003. Sadr has recently been calling for early elections and the dissolution of parliament.

Gun and rocket fire had echoed through Baghdad on Monday night and Tuesday morning before Mr Sadr’s television address.

News footage and videos posted on social media appeared to show Mr Sadr’s supporters firing rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns into the green zone. Security forces, which include members of Iran-backed paramilitary groups not directly under the government’s control, appeared to fire back.

At least 30 people have been killed and hundreds more wounded, according to the Associated Press, citing Iraqi officials. That number is expected to rise. Sadrists confirmed at least 10 protesters were killed, publishing a list of their names overnight.

The clashes between forces loyal to Mr Sadr and his rivals deepened the turmoil and heightened fears of more instability in the fragile nation. Iraq is no stranger to violence, but sharpening intra-Shia rivalries are at the root of the current volatility, with both sides wielding threats of violence during political negotiations.

“Sadr in the past has used destabilisation as a tactic,” said Renad Mansour, Iraq initiative director at Chatham House. “Now, he sees an opportunity to become the main Shia actor. He still wants to work within the sectarian power-sharing system [but] he wants to be at its centre.”

Sadr has long cast himself as being outside the ruling establishment, despite his movement’s role in the political system. He has previously stirred civil unrest, notably in 2016 when his followers stormed parliament and the green zone.

An erstwhile militia leader who led the main Shia resistance to the US occupation, he draws much of his support from a devoted working-class constituency that he can mobilise on to the streets. Sadr has styled himself as a nationalist who has spoken against foreign meddling — although he has links to Iran and has occasionally sought refuge there. That position resonates deeply with his constituency. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2022.