Iraqi strongman al-Sadr orders backers to drop protest after firefight

Influential Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is calling on his supporters to withdraw from the capital’s government quarter, where they have traded heavy fire with security forces in a serious escalation of a months-long political crisis gripping the nation.

Moments after the televised speech, some can be seen abandoning their positions. Iraq’s military has also announced an end to a curfew, further raising hopes that there might be a halt to the street violence.

The unrest began yesterday, when al-Sadr announced he would resign from politics and his supporters stormed the Green Zone, once the stronghold of the US military that’s now home to Iraqi government offices and foreign embassies. At least 30 people have been killed, officials said.

“This is not a revolution,” al-Sadr says.

Earlier today, supporters of al-Sadr could be seen on live television firing both machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades into the heavily-fortified area through a section of pulled-down concrete walls. Security forces armed with machine guns inside the zone sporadically returned fire.

Iraq’s government has been deadlocked since al-Sadr’s party won the largest share of seats in October parliamentary elections but not enough to secure a majority government — unleashing months of infighting between different Shiite factions. Al-Sadr refused to negotiate with his Iran-backed Shiite rivals, and his withdrawal yesterday catapulted Iraq into political uncertainty.

Iran closed its borders to Iraq this morning — a sign of Tehran’s concern that the chaos could spread, though even before al-Sadr’s order, streets beyond the capital’s government quarter largely remained calm. The country’s vital oil continued to flow, with global benchmark Brent crude trading slightly down.