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UN: Impossible to tolerate deaths in Iraq’s protests

November 30, 2019 at 11:24 am

Iraqi security forces intervene demonstrators during the ongoing anti-government protests at Al-Rasheed Street in Baghdad, Iraq on 23 November 2019. [Murtadha Sudani – Anadolu Agency]

The special representative of the secretary-general of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, Jeanine Plasschaert, announced on Friday that it is impossible to accept any more deaths in the state-wide protests, the Qatari Al-Sharq newspaper reported.

Plasschaert’s official revealed that she is to brief the UN Security Council on Tuesday regarding the situation in Iraq.

In a statement, the UN official confirmed that the increasing number of casualties in Iraq has reached an “intolerable level,” stating that there are infiltrators inside the demonstrations aiming to sabotage the peaceful nature of the protests and lead the country to a “dangerous” situation.

READ: Iraq’s Sadr calls his supporters to continue protests

Meanwhile, media reports revealed that Abu Jihad Al-Hashemi, the office director of the Iraqi president, had resigned over a week ago.

His resignation, the news reports claimed, came in response to directions from Iraq’s top Shi’ite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, to scrap the deal about partnership of government posts.

In addition, Al-Sharq reported that the Iraqi protesters celebrated on Friday the announcement of the resignation of the Iraqi prime minister, Adil Abdul-Mahdi.

Since 25 October, Iraqis have been demonstrating against corruption and have been calling for reforms.