After a few days of calm, violence again exploded on Friday (December 6th) in Iraq, where at least 12 protesters were killed in Baghdad. These new deaths bring to 440 the number of people killed – mostly protesters – since the launch in early October, of a large spontaneous movement of protest against power. Some 20,000 people were also injured.
Since supporters of pro-Iran paramilitaries Hashd al-Shaabi (popular mobilization units), a heterogeneous coalition now integrated into the state, have demonstrated force in Tahrir Square Baghdad Thursday, protesters said feared a new outbreak of violence. It arrived Friday night, when armed men on board pickups landed on the edge of a huge multi-storey car park protesters had occupied for weeks near Baghdad, told the Agence France-Presse protesters .
Shooting salvos with live ammunition, sometimes in complete darkness at the mercy of frequent power outages in Iraq, these gunmen managed to dislodge protesters from the car park, reported protesters and doctors who also said they had treated protesters wounded with knives. Under the tents turned into field hospitals in Tahrir Square, ambulances brought injured protesters.
The balance sheet is currently set at twelve dead and dozens wounded, according to medical sources that specify it could still climb.
As for the car park, close to Tahrir Square, epicenter of the protest against power and its Iranian godfather, it was on fire, a fire caused by attackers "Unidentified", according to state television.
Rejection of "foreign interference"
The day was calm on Tahrir, however, where important gatherings were held, joined by religious dignitaries from Shiite shrines in the country. By mid-day, Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, the highest Shiite religious authority in Iraq, had distanced himself from a political class conspired by the street sincest October and had called to reject "Foreign interference" in choosing the next head of government.
The 89-year-old dignitary, who is said to have made and defeated all prime ministers since the overthrow of dictator Saddam Hussein after the US invasion of the country in 2003, said he was not playing "No role" in the negotiations for the appointment of a new prime minister. Last week, it was a preaching on his behalf that precipitated the fall of Adel Abdel-Mahdi's government a year after taking office.
For several days, the political parties have tried to bring out a candidate acceptable to all in the country, under the aegis of two emissaries from Tehran – General Qassem Soleimani and the Shiite cleric in charge of the Iraqi issue in the Lebanese Hezbollah, Mohammed Kaoutharani.
"The Iraqi people want to recover their country"
In the evening, the United States denounced a "Serious violation of Iraqi sovereignty" and an "Interference" Iran, as they unveiled a new list of Iraqi leaders targeted by sanctions.
"The Iraqi people want to recover their country. He calls for genuine reforms and wants reliable leaders who will put Iraqi national interests first. "said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a statement.
Washington sanctions target three faction leaders of Hashd al-Shaabi for "Serious human rights violations". It is Qaïs al-Khazali, leader of Assaïb Ahl al-Haq, one of the largest pro Iran factions of the Hashd, "Pet peeve" Americans and already under sanctions, as well as Laith al-Khazali and Hussein al-Lami, head of the powerful Hashd security uniting the elite units of the coalition.
The last man, the sulphurous Sunni politician Khamis al-Khanjar, is punished for " corruption ", an endemic evil in Iraq that has already cost the country – one of the world's richest oil – the equivalent of twice its GDP.
The protesters want a new Constitution and a new political class. "Let the thieves clear! "this is what they have been saying for more than two months. Sixteen years after the fall of Saddam Hussein, they believe that the system put in place by the Americans and now under the control of the Iranians is out of breath.
On Friday, hundreds of Shiite clerics and employees of Shiite holy places in Iraq joined demonstrators in Tahrir Square. This religious support was expressed in the aftermath of the onslaught of thousands of Hachd supporters in Tahrir Square, said 41-year-old protester Thaër Steifi: "As we feared violence, we called the religious of the holy places and they came. " The deaths of Friday night prove that it was not enough.
