Baghdad tries to return to normalcy after ‘sadrist’ movement withdraws from Green Zone

Iraqi Prime Minister Mostafa al Kazemi has ordered the opening of the suspension bridge in the center of the capital, Baghdad, after the ‘Sadrist’ movement completed its withdrawal from the Green Zone, where government and diplomatic headquarters are located.

The Joint Operations Command, after lifting the curfew in Baghdad and the other Iraqi provinces, has ordered to end the state of high alert after the serious clashes in the capital, which have left about 30 dead, most of the deceased being related to the influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr.

Likewise, the Iranian authorities have announced, after the situation returns to relative normality, the opening of its border with Iraq, although for the moment it remains closed until security in the country can be guaranteed, as reported by the IRNA news agency.

On the other hand, the Ministry of Education has announced that official working hours will resume tomorrow in educational institutions – universities, colleges and institutes – in all governorates, according to the NINA news agency.

Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, after officially withdrawing from politics, on Tuesday issued an ultimatum to the protesters to leave the capital’s Green Zone in less than an hour, after which the crowd began to leave the site.

Before warning his supporters to leave in less than an hour, the Shiite cleric had begun a hunger strike to call for an end to violence in the country, which had decreed a nationwide curfew that has subsequently been lifted.

Members of the Saraya al Salam militia, which supports Al Sadr, have engaged in clashes in recent hours with Iranian-backed militias and have thrown grenades around the capital’s Green Zone.

Security forces have used tear gas and also live fire to contain the protesters, before political leaders appealed for restraint from all sides. Among the institutions assaulted was the building housing the prime minister’s office.

Al Sadr, who had been mobilizing his hundreds of thousands of supporters in Baghdad for weeks to the point of having twice seized Parliament, was demanding the calling of new elections after ten months of failure to form a government.