Antichrist Says Government Should Reform or Resign

Moqtada al-Sadr Photographer: Haidar Hamdani/AFP via Getty Images

Iraqi Shiite Cleric Says Government Should Reform or Resign

Khalid Al Ansary

October 26, 2019, 11:32 AM MDT

At least 63 killed on Friday and Saturday: human rights body

Iraq’s government should stop oppressing its citizens, initiate reforms or face removal, prominent Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said in a statement.

“Resign before you are obliged to do so, or reform before you are removed,” al-Sadr said, adding that protests in the country had succeeded in putting pressure on the corrupt.

At least 63 people were killed and 2,592 were wounded on Friday and Saturday, according to Iraq’s High Commission for Human Rights, as protests continue in Baghdad and elsewhere in the country over unemployment, government corruption and a lack of basic services.

Sadr’s party said it would stage a sit-in at the Iraqi parliament until the protesters’ demands are met.

(Updates death toll in paragraph 3)