'We are only here to ask for a good life.'  Clashes continue near Baghdad parliament

Record ID: 1686826

  • Title: 'We are only here to ask for a good life.'  Clashes continue near Baghdad parliament
  • Date: 30th August 2022
  • Summary: BAGHDAD, IRAQ (AUGUST 30, 2022) (REUTERS) SUPPORTERS OF SHI'ITE CLERIC MOQTADA AL-SADR GATHERED NEAR CONCRETE WALLS IN BAGHDAD ARMED MAN STANDING AMID TRAFFIC AND PEOPLE ANTI-AIRCRAFT WEAPON ON THE BACK OF PICKUP TRUCK SADR SUPPORTERS, INCLUDING ARMED MEN, GATHERED, WALKING VARIOUS OF MAN SHOOTING OVER THE CONCRETE WALL, AND PEOPLE GATHERED TUKTUKS AND PEOPLE GATHERED (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SUPPORTER OF MOQTADA AL-SADR FROM, AHMED, SAYING: "We respect the religious reference (referring to Shi'ite Muslim cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani), but we want them to put out a fatwa (religious decree) to stop violence - just as they released a fatwa that pushed these men to fight. I am injured, my foot was injured yesterday, why? We are only here to ask for a good life, to ask for schools for our children, access to healthcare, we want dignity." VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS CHANTING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SUPPORTER OF MOQTADA AL-SADR FROM, YUSEF, SAYING: "It's as if they have cotton in their ears, we asked for reforms, we asked them to back down, but they did not. They did nothing. They are now cornered, we don't want them." PROTESTERS GATHERED NEAR THE CONCRETE WALL VARIOUS OF DRIVING SHOT THROUGH NEARLY EMPTY BAGHDAD STREETS
  • Embargoed: 13th September 2022 07:32
  • Keywords: Baghdad Clashes Iraq
  • Location: BAGHDAD, IRAQ
  • City: BAGHDAD, IRAQ
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Middle East,Editors' Choice
  • Reuters ID: LVA001141530082022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:Iraqi militants fired several rockets at Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone on Tuesday (August 30) as sporadic clashes continued for a second day between rival Shi’ite Muslim groups, Iraq’s military said.
    Streets were mostly empty of ordinary people as gunmen cruised in pickup trucks carrying machine guns and brandishing grenade launchers. Overnight, sustained gun and rocket fire rang out across the Iraqi capital.
    Clashes on Monday, which killed nearly 20 people, jolted Iraq into new violence as supporters of Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, a former anti-U.S. insurgent leader, faced off with Shi’ite armed groups mostly loyal to Iran.
    A prolonged political deadlock after an October election, during which the two camps have competed for power, has given the country its longest run without a government and led to new unrest as Iraq struggles to recover from decades of conflict.
    This time, the fighting is among the Shi’ite majority that has ruled Iraq since the 2003 U.S. invasion which toppled Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein.
    Sadr has positioned himself as a nationalist who opposes all foreign interference, whether from the United States and the West or from Iran. He commands a thousands-strong militia and has millions of loyal supporters across the country. His opponents, longtime allies of Tehran, control dozens of paramilitary groups heavily armed and trained by Iranian forces.
    Sadr and his opponents have long dominated state institutions and run large parts of the Iraqi state.
    (production: Maher Nazeh, Charlotte Bruneau)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2022. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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