The unrest is the deadliest Iraq has seen since the declared defeat of Islamic State in 2017 and has shaken Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi's year-old government. Iraqi state television meanwhile broadcast live footage of a meeting between the parliament speaker and what it said were protest leaders. The speaker on Friday proposed improving public housing for the poor and job opportunities for young people, as well as holding those who had killed protesters to account. Anger at graft, lack of servicesOfficials from Abdul Mahdi's office met protest leaders from Baghdad and other provinces to discuss their demands, state television reported. The High Commission for Human Rights said security forces had detained hundreds of people for demonstrating but then let most of them go.

Source: Otago Daily Times October 05, 2019 22:18 UTC