Protests in Baghdad

In Iraq, a mostly peaceful march of tens of thousands of people on April 26 was the largest of the protests held in Baghdad in the previous weeks. Calling for an end to corruption and for a vote on new government representatives, the crowd walked from Tahrir Square to the gates of the Green Zone, where they threatened to storm parliament, which was in session. Iraq’s prime minister has been trying to appease protesters by replacing ministers, but parliament has been paralyzed by arguments.

Facing a political crisis, Iraq has had to pull military from the north and west, where they have been fighting Islamist militants, in order to secure the capital.