The hundreds of protesters who pulled down blast walls and forced their way into Baghdad’s Green Zone on Saturday laid bare growing political chaos that increasingly poses a threat to the country’s security and the economy. Here is what you need to know about the first major breach of the country’s fortified administrative heart.
Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s supporters led the breach, demanding more efforts to fight corruption and to protest what they regard as sectarianism in the selection of government ministers. The unrest heaps more pressure on Prime Minister Haidar Al-Abadi to break a political stalemate that’s preventing him from appointing a government of technocrats to steer the fight against Islamic State and revive the economy. Abadi’s push has been blocked by parties seeking to preserve the country’s traditional system of patronage.
