 Supporters of Shia leader Moqtada Sadr from across Iraq demonstrated for the second-day running on Sunday to demand better living conditions.
| I see he's back. Shoulda killed him in October... |
Hundreds of them gathered in front of the oil ministry in Baghdad. Among them were oil workers in orange jumpsuits waving lanterns to protest against oil and electricity shortages.
| Thank your Sunni brethren, Clem... |
"The demonstration we are holding here today is aimed at showing what the mood of the Iraqi people is," said Shaikh Malik al-Kinani, who heads the Sadr office in the Baghdad neighbourhood of Kakh. "It is very disturbing to see politicians only interested in elections. Instead they should be focusing on meeting the basic needs of the people," he told AFP.
| First y'gotta hold office, then you can do something with it. Unless you live in a state governed by a Caliph, of course. |
Thousands joined similar protests in the Shia heartland south of Baghdad on Saturday. By invoking the dire economic situation and singling out the ever-worsening fuel shortages, Sadr's movement is tapping into an issue that strikes a chord with most of the population, especially among poor Shia, his power base. Nearly two years after the US invasion, many Iraqis complain that they have seen no improvement to their daily lives after 12 years of the sanctions imposed by the United Nations on Saddam Hussein's government. Sadr is not running in the 30 January general elections, but members of his entourage have thrown their weight behind the front-running list of Shia leader Abd al-Aziz Hakim. |