Iraq’s Moqtada Sadr gives followers one hour to end protests
BAGHDAD: Powerful Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called on his loyalists in the government zone to withdraw after nearly 24 hours of fierce clashes with security forces and paramilitary groups. In a televised speech Tuesday, al-Sadr gave his supporters, hundreds of whom stormed the government palace and have been holding an ongoing sit-in outside the parliament building, an hour to leave. Those backing influential cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr fired into the Green Zone, where it appeared Iraqi security forces were firing back at them. Live television footage showed the chaos, with at least one wounded man being taken away in a three-wheel rickshaw, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry visible behind them. The death toll continued to rise on Tuesday after the unrest erupted the previous day, according to two medical officials. Neighboring Iran closed its land borders to the country. Iraq’s military said four rockets were launched into the heavily fortified Green Zone. Outside of sporadic unrest in southe...