UNITED NATIONS, Jul 31 (APP): United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday called on Iraqi parties to de-escalate the situation and avoid violence amid tension over the nomination of a new prime minister.
In a statement, his Deputy Spokesperson, Farhan Aziz Haq said the UN chief is “following with concern” the ongoing protests in Iraq that left many people injured.
“For the second time in a week, on Saturday,” the statement said, “protesters stormed the parliament in Baghdad, breaching the high-security Green Zone and injuring more than 120 people, according to news media reports.
“Freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are fundamental rights that must be respected at all times,” he said.
The spokesperson urged Iraqi parties and actors “to rise above their differences and form, through peaceful and inclusive dialogue, an effective national government.”
Tension escalated in Iraq in recent days following the nomination of Mohammed Shia al-Sudani as a new prime minister by a coalition of groups close to Iran amid protests by supporters of influential Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
Iraq has been in a political deadlock for nine months following the country’s general elections in October 2021 which failed since then to agree on a new government between rival parties.
“The Secretary-General urges all parties and actors to rise above their differences and form, through peaceful and inclusive dialogue, an effective national government that will be able to deliver on longstanding demands for reform, without further delay,” the statement added.
