Iraqis gratefully welcome UN envoy's speech, demand more
With few expectations, Iraqis expressed appreciation to the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert for her briefing on the protests.
Three days after Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Iraq Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert condemned the acts of violence against peaceful protesters and defended the right to peaceful assembly and freedom of speech in her briefing in New York, Baghdad witnessed another bloody night on Friday after armed men attacked one of Baghdad's protest centers, leaving at least 23 dead, according to police and medical sources.
Hennis-Plasschaert condemned the deliberate killing of unarmed protesters by armed elements, calling it an "atrocity against the people of Iraq." She also called for the perpetrators to be identified and brought to justice without delay.
As in her New York speech, Hennis-Plasschaert was harsh in her recent statement.
"Acts of violence that are gang-driven, arising from external loyalties, politically motivated or intended to settle scores, risk placing Iraq on a dangerous trajectory," she said in a statement published Dec. 7.
