Kuwait asks citizens to leave Iraq amid Baghdad unrest
Protests are happening throughout Iraq following cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's announcement declaring he has given up on politics.
Kuwait’s embassy in Baghdad asked citizens today to leave Iraq due to the political unrest in the country, the official Kuwait News Agency reported.
What happened: The Iraqi capital, Baghdad, has been rocked by protests for days. Many of the protesters are supporters of the influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. The Sadrists are angry at the rival Coordination Framework’s actions vis-a-vis a new government formation and oppose the alliance’s nominee for prime minister. The Coordination Framework consists of Shiite parties that are opposed to Sadr. It includes former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's State of Law Coalition and political parties affiliated with Iran-backed militias.
Iraq held an election last October in which the Sadrist movement received the most votes. However, politicians have been unable to form a government since then.
The situation escalated today when Sadr announced his resignation from politics. Though Sadr has claimed to retire before, his supporters protested in Baghdad and stormed the government palace. Clashes between them and security forces as well as rival militias led to 10 deaths by 11:00 pm local time, according to The Associated Press.
