Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Followers of Iraq's Sadr pray at Saddam-era parade ground

Published 08/05/2022, 06:28 AM
Updated 08/05/2022, 06:37 AM
© Reuters. Supporters of Iraqi populist leader Moqtada al-Sadr gather for mass Friday prayer at Grand Festivities Square within the Green Zone, in Baghdad, Iraq August 5, 2022. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani

© Reuters. Supporters of Iraqi populist leader Moqtada al-Sadr gather for mass Friday prayer at Grand Festivities Square within the Green Zone, in Baghdad, Iraq August 5, 2022. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani

By John Davison

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of followers of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr prayed on Friday at an iconic Baghdad military parade ground built by the late President Saddam Hussein, in yet another symbolic display of Sadr's sway over much of the Iraqi people.

Sadr has in the past week commanded his followers to storm Baghdad's heavily secured Green Zone, occupy parliament and pray together as he refuses to let his political rivals form a government 10 months after elections.

Sadr was the biggest winner in an October election but failed to form a government free of Iranian allies as he had promised.

He withdrew his lawmakers from parliament and is now preventing the chamber from electing a new government and demanding early elections.

The populist leader counts millions of Iraqis among his followers and has shown he can still stir up gatherings by hundreds of thousands of supporters, mostly working-class Shi'ite Muslims, if he needs to exert political pressure.

Friday's prayer took place at the famous Baghdad parade ground which stretches between two vast crossed sword arches, built under Saddam in the 1980s to commemorate the Iran-Iraq war.

The area is in the heart of the Green Zone which houses government buildings and embassies, including the parliament where Sadr's supporters have staged a days-long sit-in.

Sadr's father Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr was murdered by Saddam's regime for his outspoken opposition to the Sunni dictator. Sadr inherited his father's followers.

When a U.S.-led invasion in 2003 toppled Saddam, Sadr began an insurgency against U.S. troops.

© Reuters. Supporters of Iraqi populist leader Moqtada al-Sadr gather for mass Friday prayer at Grand Festivities Square within the Green Zone, in Baghdad, Iraq August 5, 2022. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani

His new foes, however, are fellow Shi'ite leaders and parties mostly aligned with Iran, as Sadr has positioned himself as a nationalist who rejects foreign interference. Those groups, like Sadr, are backed by heavily-armed militias, but do not hold the same sway as he does over masses of fanatical followers.

The unrest brought Iraq close to new violence on Monday as Iran-aligned leaders staged counter-demonstrations which many Iraqis thought would lead to clashes between the two camps.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.