Iraq: Sadr calls on supporters to move out of parliament

Iraqi opposition leader Muqtada al Sadr has called on his supporters to withdraw from the Iraqi Parliament within 72 hours but to continue protesting around parliament grounds in Baghdad’s Green Zone, BBC World's Mideast correspondent Nafiseh Kohnavard said in a tweet on Tuesday afternoon.

Supporters of the Sadrist bloc stormed the parliament on Saturday, second time within a week, in protest against the prime ministerial candidate of the rival Coordination Framework, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, and started a sit-in both inside and outside the legislative chamber.

In response to the sit-in, the Coordination Framework also called on its supporters to stage counter-demonstrations, to "defend the state" against the Sadrists' "suspicious coup."

A senior official of the Sadrist bloc later announced on Monday evening their rejection of dialogue with the Coordination Framework.

On the fourth day of the sit-in, a representative of al-Sadr reportedly conveyed Sadr's message to the protestors to move out of the premises, but to remain inside the Green Zone, which houses Iraq's government buildings and foreign embassies.

"Tuesday's move is a de-escalation on al-Sadr's part but far from a disbanding of the protests," said UK-based The New Arab.