Iraq’s Sadr begins sit-in inside Green Zone

Prominent Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has started a promised sit-in inside Baghdad’s Green Zone district, vowing to continue the protest action until the government fulfills its pledges for carrying out reforms.

According to Press TV, Sadr on Sunday joined his followers at the gates of the area, which is home to many government offices as well as the parliament and foreign embassies, before entering the district and starting the sit-in.

Local media had announced that Sadr arrived in Baghdad on Thursday. The Shia cleric is normally based in the holy city of Najaf, where he enjoys huge public support.

Sadr had vowed earlier that he would enter the Green Zone as a show of discontent with the government’s slow pace of carrying out reforms and tackling corruption. In a statement issued on March 18, the cleric had called the area “a bastion of support for corruption,” prompting his followers to erect tents for a sit-down at the gates of the zone.

Upon entry into the zone, Sadr urged his followers to remain peaceful. His office in Baghdad also issued a statement, ensuring that the protest action will remain peaceful. Protesters, however, chanted slogans at the gates of the zone, saying corrupt ministers in the government “share common thinking” with militants currently wreaking havoc across Iraq.

ME