During the past hours, activists on social media circulated pictures of the former Iraqi Prime Minister and head of the “State of Law Coalition”, Nuri al-Maliki, carrying his weapon among a group of gunmen inside the Green Zone in Baghdad.
Others published video clips that they said were of members of the Popular Mobilization that spread next to al-Maliki’s house, following the storming of demonstrators by supporters of the leader of the Sadrist movement. Muqtada al-Sadr to the Iraqi parliament.
Activists also added that the pictures of al-Maliki came following the demonstrators withdrew from the parliament building following a tweet from al-Sadr in which he ordered them to withdraw, saying, “Go back to your homes, you have terrified the corrupt.”
In the same context, al-Maliki criticized the storming of al-Sadr’s followers in the government’s Green Zone and the Iraqi parliament building.
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And he said in a press statement, “The entry of demonstrators from any side to the courtyards of Parliament in the Green Zone and violating the security protection of the region, is a flagrant violation of the legitimate right to demonstrate.”
It is noteworthy that the relationship between al-Sadr and al-Maliki has recently been strained following the spread of audio leaks attributed to the head of the State of Law coalition, which has caused an uproar in political and popular circles.