Iraq ‘bloodbath’: PM Adel Abdul Mahdi will resign after death toll from protests hits 400
- Violence reached a tipping point after protesters stormed the Iranian consulate in Najaf on Wednesday, prompting a crackdown
- Protesters demand an overhaul of the ruling elite, accusing them of corruption and embezzling state funds, and of being a stooge for Iran
Abdul Mahdi’s decision came in response to a call for a change of leadership on Friday by Iraq’s top Shiite Muslim cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, his office said in a statement.
Sistani’s weekly sermon gave a major boost to Iraqi demonstrators who have been taking to the streets since early October against a ruling class deemed corrupt and inefficient. The grass roots movement is the largest Iraq has seen in decades but also the deadliest, with 400 people dead and more than 15,000 wounded in the capital and Shiite-majority south.
For weeks, Sistani has called for restraint in dealing with demonstrators and has urged political parties get “serious” about reform, but he ramped up demands on Friday.
“The parliament, from which this current government is drawn, is asked to reconsider its choice in this regard,” he said in the sermon delivered by a representative.
