Thousands take to Iraq's Baghdad streets to demand political reform

PanARMENIAN.Net - Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets of Iraq's capital, Baghdad, in protest at a months-long political crisis and lack of reform, BBC News reports.

Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr has asked his supporters to march towards the Green Zone, where the government is based.

He wants Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to press ahead with his plan to replace ministers appointed on the basis of political affiliation with technocrats.

Powerful parties in parliament have so far refused to approve the reshuffle.

Systemic political patronage has aided corruption in Iraq, depleting the government's resources as it struggles to cope with declining oil revenue and the cost of the war against the jihadist group Islamic State.