Shiite cleric predicts ‘Iraqi Spring’ as Sunnis continue to protest
Wednesday, 02 January 2013
Moqtada al-Sadr, head of a powerful Shi'ite movement in
Iraq voiced his support for Sunni anti-government protesters, and warned
of an “Iraqi Spring.” (Reuters)
The hardline cleric said Tuesday in the Shiite holy city of Najaf that the demonstrators have the right to demonstrate as long as they are peaceful.
Protesters have been holding
rallies in the western desert province of Anbar and other Sunni
strongholds for more than a week. The demonstrations follow the arrest
of bodyguards assigned to the Sunni finance minister, Rafia al-Issawi,
though they tap into deeper Sunni grievances of perceived discrimination
by the government of Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Al-Sadr grudgingly backed longtime rival al-Maliki following elections in 2010, then last year joined Iraq’s minority Sunni Arabs and Kurds in calling for al-Maliki to resign.
Maliki looked to head off protests in Sunni areas of the country with a prisoner release even as he threatened to use state resources to “intervene” to end the rallies.
Maliki, who is Shiite, ordered the release of more than 700 female detainees, a key demand of demonstrators, the official appointed to negotiate with protesters, told AFP.
“The prime minister will write to the president to issue a special amnesty to release them,” Khaled al-Mullah said.
Mullah said of 920 female prisoners in Iraqi jails, 210 had been accused or convicted of terrorism-related offences and could not be released. But, he said, they would be transferred to prisons in their home provinces.
The remaining detainees, convicted on lower-level charges, would be released, he said. He did not give a timeframe for the process.
Al-Sadr grudgingly backed longtime rival al-Maliki following elections in 2010, then last year joined Iraq’s minority Sunni Arabs and Kurds in calling for al-Maliki to resign.
Maliki looked to head off protests in Sunni areas of the country with a prisoner release even as he threatened to use state resources to “intervene” to end the rallies.
Maliki, who is Shiite, ordered the release of more than 700 female detainees, a key demand of demonstrators, the official appointed to negotiate with protesters, told AFP.
“The prime minister will write to the president to issue a special amnesty to release them,” Khaled al-Mullah said.
Mullah said of 920 female prisoners in Iraqi jails, 210 had been accused or convicted of terrorism-related offences and could not be released. But, he said, they would be transferred to prisons in their home provinces.
The remaining detainees, convicted on lower-level charges, would be released, he said. He did not give a timeframe for the process.
The demonstrators should “end their strike before the state intervenes to end it,” he said in an interview with the state broadcaster Iraqiya, in an apparent reference that he could order the use of military force.
Addressing the protesters he said: “I warn you against continuing (blocking the highway), because this is against the Iraqi constitution.
“We have been very patient with you.”
The rallies began on Dec. 23, sparked by the arrest of at least nine guards of Finance Minister Rafa al-Essawi, a Sunni Arab and a leading member of the secular Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc which, while part of Maliki’s unity government, frequently criticises him in public.
Protesters in mostly Sunni areas of Iraq’s west and north have alleged that the Shiite-led authorities use anti-terror legislation to target their minority community
Labels: Conflict, Crisis Politics, Culture, Iraq, Islamism
posted by Pieface @ Tuesday, January 01, 2013
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