SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraqi President Barham Salih met the representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert on Sunday a day after another round of unrest covered the capital on Saturday.
The State News Agency, INA reported that President Barham met representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in Iraq Hennis-Plasschaert.
During their meeting which took place in the presidential palace, they stressed the importance of ending the political crisis by means of dialogue.
The pair also discussed the general conditions in the country, especially security and political ones, according to INA.
The President’s meeting Hennis-Plasschaert is at a time when the political deadlock over the government formation is heading to hit a one-year record after the latest parliamentary elections.
In the meantime, Iraqis in the capital marked the anniversary of the anti-government protests in Baghdad’s central Tahrir square on Saturday.
In 2019, protests erupted against then prime minister Adel Abdul Mahdi’s government with demonstrators demanding an overhaul of a political system they see as profoundly corrupt and keeping most Iraqis in poverty.
More than 560 people, mostly unarmed demonstrators but also members of the security forces, were killed in the spate of popular unrest as Iraqi security forces and unidentified gunmen cracked down.
Mahdi quit under pressure from the protests with powerful Shi’ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr the biggest winner in an election last October.
Saturday’s gathering raised fears of more unrest and tension among power-hungry politicians that could further delay the formation of a government.
