Amnesty wants to end Bloodbath in Iraq

The London-based Amnesty International has called on Iraqi authorities to end the bloodbath in the Arab country, invaded by foreign military entities that do not want to leave, creating more violence and death among the Iraqi citizens.

The latest wave of anti-government protests in Iraq started after Baghdad ordered US troops to leave, which is now considered the gravest challenge to the cabinet of Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi since it was elected to power a year ago.

Any change in the government is controlled by the main political blocs in parliament and is directed under their policies. There are also external factors and foreign interference, especially from the USA, Turkey and Iran.

Despite promises by Abdul-Mahdi to calm the situation, he admitted that he does not have a magic wand to solve problems his cabinet inherited from previous governments since the hostile and deadly US military and political invasions in 2003.

Abdul-Mahdi announced that he would be willing to step down if an agreement was reached between Hadi al-Amiri, who controls the second-largest bloc in parliament, and Muqtada al-Sadr, who leads the parliament’s largest bloc.

What makes it difficult to reach an agreement between the government and protesters is that there is no clear leadership of the demonstrators, which makes it hard to bring the protests under control.

Although al-Sadr has hinted on several occasions that he endorses the demands of the protesters, especially since many of the protests have taken place in areas where he enjoys popularity.

The Iraqi premier enjoys the support of the main Kurdish parties, which – although recognizing the right to peaceful assembly and expression of opinion – may not find a better partner in government than Abdul-Mahdi since he understands the outstanding issues between Baghdad and Erbil.

Iraq’s Sunnis, meanwhile, are taking the “wait-and-see” position regarding the protests and ongoing talks inside the government and parliament, without taking a clear position regarding Abdul-Mahdi’s resignation.

All in all, it seems unlikely that Abdul-Mahdi will resign as he is also betting on the time factor to address the security challenge, believing the protests could diminish over time.

More than 300 people have been killed and thousands injured in anti-government demonstrations throughout Iraq since Oct. 1, according to the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights.

AA. com / ABC Flash Point Blog News 2019.