Iraqi PM-designate requests to postpone Parliament session
The protesters demanded comprehensive reform, fight against corruption, better public services and more job opportunities.
The protesters demanded comprehensive reform, fight against corruption, better public services and more job opportunities.
The appointment of Mohammed Allawi as the new Prime Minister of the embattled country after an 11th-hour consensus among political blocs has been greeted with a people’s upheaval.
Anti-government demonstrators burned tyres in major cities across the south, forcing the closure of schools and government buildings.
Earlier on Friday, thousands of people were in Tahrir Square again to make it clear that the demands of protesters go far beyond the replacement of one prime minister with another.
It is the deadliest unrest since the so-called Islamic State (IS) group was declared defeated in Iraq in 2017.
The US last year shut its consulate in the protest-hit southern Iraqi city of Basra, blaming "indirect fire" by Iran-backed forces and warning its rival of retaliation for any damage.
