Page 9 - ARUBA TODAY 29August2015
P. 9
WORLD NEWS 9
Saturday 29 August 2015
Iraq’s top cleric says government must genuinely seek change
QASSIM ZAHRA for the dissolution of parlia- A protester holds a poster of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi tion and sectarian politics.
Associated Press ment and an end to cor- during a demonstration in Tahrir Square in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, The graft is widely believed
BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq’s ruption. The Baghdad rally, Aug. 28, 2015. Friday’s protesters were joined for the first time to be rampant, involving
top Shiite cleric said on Fri- in central Tahrir square, was by followers of Muqtada al-Sadr, a radical, anti-American Shiite hundreds of millions of dol-
day the government must the largest by far, attract- cleric. The Arabic sentence on the poster reads, “we authorize lars in the 12 years since
show it was seeking genu- ing at least 20,000, many of Dr. Haider al-Abadi to change the constitution.” Saddam Hussein’s regime
ine change to combat them waving the national was toppled.
corruption and improve flag. It was held under tight (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed) Al-Abadi has responded to
services and not just intro- security measures but end- the rallies with a package
duce temporary measures ed peacefully shortly after “Officials must work differ- began last month, have of reforms that reduced
to placate the embattled nightfall. Followers of a rad- ently this time around and been pressing for better the size of his Cabinet, and
nation. ical, anti-American Shiite win the trust of the citizens,” basic services like power, eliminated the three vice
In a message delivered by cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr, he said. water and medical care, presidencies and the three
a representative in a Fri- joined the Baghdad rally The weekly rallies, which as well as an end to corrup- deputy prime minister
day sermon, Grand Aya- for the first time on Friday. posts. He has also ordered
tollah Ali al-Sistani also The smaller rallies were held a revision of the govern-
cautioned protesters who in cities south of Baghdad, ment’s pay scale and the
have staged weekly rallies including the holy Shiite city annulment of financial
to press demands for re- of Karbala, the southern perks enjoyed by senior
form that they must guard port of Basra and Babil. officials, lawmakers and
against groups seeking to Al-Sistani’s comments, de- consultants. His actions
hijack their movement to livered in Karbala, chal- raised questions about the
further other interests. lenged the government legality of his reforms and
Hours later, tens of thou- to show that it is “truthfully whether they violate the
sands of Iraqis rallied in and seriously” responding constitution.
Baghdad and a string of to demands for change. “I will not back down,”
cities south of the capital “Citizens have experi- al-Abadi vowed in tele-
in support of Prime Minister enced past promises that vised comments this week.
Haider al-Abadi’s reform were never realized on the “There is no going back on
drive and to press demands ground,” he cautioned. reforms.q
