Iraq parliament to meet after protesters torch Iran consulate

BASRA: Iraqi protesters on Friday torched the Iranian consulate in the southern city of Basra in fresh demonstrations over poor public services after parliament called for an emergency session on the unrest.

Unidentified attackers also fired shells into Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone in a rare attack on an area housing parliament, government offices and the US embassy. There were no casualties.

Basra has seen a surge in protests since Tuesday, with demonstrators torching government buildings as well as political party and militia offices, as anger boils over after the hospitalisation of 30,000 people who had drunk polluted water. At least nine demonstrators have been killed since then in clashes with security forces, Mehdi al-Tamimi, head of Basra’s human rights council, has said.

The wave of protests first broke out in July in oil-rich Basra province before spreading to other parts of the country, with demonstrators also condemning corruption among Iraqi officials and demanding jobs. “We’re thirsty, we’re hungry, we are sick and abandoned,” protester Ali Hussein told AFP Friday after another night of violence.

“Demonstrating is a sacred duty and all honest people ought to join.”

Thousands of demonstrators rallied outside the Iranian consulate on Friday while hundreds stormed the building and set in on fire, an AFP photographer said. A spokesman for the consulate said that all diplomats and employees were evacuated from the building before the protesters attacked, and that none of them were hurt.

Iran is a key power broker in Iraq and many of the militias and political parties whose offices were torched Thursday are known to be close to the Islamic republic.

Parliament said that lawmakers and ministers, including Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, will meet on Saturday to discuss the water contamination crisis, the latest breakdown in public services to infuriate residents.