By Arwa Ibrahim /Al jazeera/ – Protesters have gathered in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square to mark one year since a second wave of anti-government protests erupted and gripped Iraq.
Sunday’s demonstrations renewed calls from early October last year, which saw the start of Iraq’s biggest anti-government protest movement since the 2003 fall of Saddam Hussein, with demonstrations in the capital Baghdad and Iraq’s mainly Shia south demanding basic services, employment opportunities and an end to corruption.
“Our blood, our souls, we sacrifice for you Iraq,” chanted hundreds of protesters as they marched through the capital’s Tahrir Square, epicentre of the protest movement.
The demonstrations became a nationwide, decentralised movement that called a complete overhaul of the political system and slammed a political class protesters saw as more loyal to Iran and the US than to Iraqi citizens.
“Today’s an important day as it marks a year since October 25, 2019 and our revolution for which we gave our blood and sacrificed many martyrs,” Muntather Mahdi, a 24-year-old protester, told Al Jazeera.
“On the top of our demands is holding the killers and kidnappers accountable. Justice must be achieved and we’ll keep coming until we see that,” said Mahdi, who came from the province of Dhi Qar.
Large groups of protesters also gathered in other southern provinces including Nasiriya, Babylon, Wasit, and Basra, holding posters and chanting anti-government slogans.
Protesters from various parts of Iraq started making their way to the capital last night for Sunday’s protests.
While many managed to enter Baghdad and reach Tahrir Square, some riding cars and other vehicles were prevented by security forces, according to activists and journalists.
Some planned to stay in Tahrir Square, while others assembled at the entrances of the heavily fortified Green Zone – where the seat of Iraq’s government and the US embassy are located – where security forces had been deployed since Saturday night.
Speaking from Allawi Square near the Green Zone, Ali Shimmari, a 26-year-old protester who made his way from the eastern governorate of Wasit in the morning, said he was determined to enter in spite of tensions between protesters and security forces being on the rise.
“Today is a continuation of what we started last year,” Shimmari told Al Jazeera.
“Our demands have not been met. We will continue our protests until we see the change we want,” he added, referring to demands including wholesale changes to the political class and holding accountable those who had attacked protesters in the demonstrations that erupted last year.
Earlier, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi had given strict orders to security forces to avoid the use of live ammunition and called on demonstrations to remain peaceful.
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