Iraqi PM warns security forces to stay out of political conflicts
The Iraqi judiciary resumed its work the day after powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr ordered his supporters to withdraw from the Supreme Judicial Council.
BAGHDAD — Protest tents of rival Shiite political and armed factions remain near the Iraqi parliament and across the Tigris River as threats and a growingly intractable political situation cast a shadow over the country’s leaders and its future.
On Aug. 23, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi cut short an official trip to Egypt to return to the Iraqi capital after a protest began at the Supreme Judiciary Council.
Courts across Iraq were temporarily shut down as a precaution after supporters of powerful Iraqi Shiite cleric and armed faction leader Muqtada al-Sadr stormed the premises of the country’s top judicial bodies, demanding they dissolve the parliament to be able to move toward fresh elections and decrying both corruption and the alleged politicization of the judiciary.
The Iraqi judiciary resumed work the following day after Sadr ordered his supporters to withdraw from the Supreme Judicial Council.
