Iraqis protest US 'interference' in domestic politics

Hundreds of Iraqi demonstrators Wednesday gathered in the capital Baghdad before the entrance of the Green Zone, where foreign missions and government buildings are located, and protested “the US involvement into the government formation process” Anadolu reports.

The protestors reacted to new meetings Brett McGurk, the US special envoy for the fight against Daesh, held with Iraqi politicians.

They held banners saying for instance: “Those who sit with [US President] Donald Trump’s messenger betrays the martyr’s blood”.

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One of the protestors, Mustafa Celal, told Anadolu Agency that the alleged US interference with the government formation was “unacceptable”.

“The people went to the [election] boxes and voted. The rest should be determined by a legal and constitutional process. From now on, no country, particularly the US, shouldn’t be involved,” he said.

Brett McGurk has recently been meeting with different sections of Iraqi politics. On Tuesday, McGurk met with Nechirvan Barzani, the prime minister of the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG).

Iraqi President Fuad Masum, after a court approved of the general election results of May 12, after considerable tension, called on the Iraqi parliament to hold a session on Sept. 3.