Reuters, BAGHDADThousands of anti-government protesters yesterday gathered in central Baghdad, defying the prime minister’s plea to end protests, which he says are costing Iraq’s economy billions of dollars and disrupting daily life. The protests have broken nearly two years of relative stability in Iraq since they started on Oct. 1. Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi on Sunday night appealed to protesters to suspend their movement which he said had achieved its goals and was hurting the economy. Meanwhile, security forces opened fire on a crowd of protesters trying to break into the Iranian consulate in the Shiite holy city of Kerbala overnight, killing three, security and medical sources said. Burning tires and chanting “Iran out, Kerbala remains free,” the crowd assembled in front of the consulate late on Sunday.

Source: Taipei Times November 04, 2019 16:05 UTC