Hundreds of supporters of powerful Iraqi cleric Moqtada Sadr danced and sang in parliament Wednesday after storming Baghdad’s high-security Green Zone in protest at a rival bloc’s nomination for prime minister.
Police fired barrages of tear gas in a bid to stop the protesters from breaching the gates of the heavily fortified Green Zone, but the crowds surged forward and entered parliament.
“I am against the corrupt officials who are in power,” said protester Mohamed Ali, a 41-year-old day laborer, one of the hundreds who entered the zone that is home to both government buildings and diplomatic missions, before later leaving peacefully.
The protests are the latest challenge for oil-rich Iraq, which remains mired in a political and a socioeconomic crisis despite soaring global energy prices.
Sadr’s bloc emerged from elections in October as the biggest parliamentary faction, but was still far short of a majority and, nine months on, deadlock persists over the establishment of a new government.
