BAGHDAD — Hundreds of protesters stormed Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone on Saturday and entered the parliament building, waving Iraqi flags, snapping photographs, breaking furniture and demanding an end to corruption. The episode deepened a political crisis that has paralyzed Iraq's government for weeks.
As the chaos unfolded in the afternoon — one lawmaker was attacked and protesters damaged several vehicles near parliament — the Baghdad Operations Command announced a state of emergency, deploying additional forces around the capital city. Checkpoints at city entrances were closed, even as the protests remained largely nonviolent.
The scenes of protest, circulated in photographs and videos on social media sites, were potent demonstrations of the anger that has grown during months of protests by Iraqis demanding that Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi carry out measures to end sectarian quotas in politics and fight corruption.
The protesters were mostly supporters of the powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, and rather than pushing for the ouster of al-Abadi, they have largely supported the prime minister as he has sought to make good on promises, still unfulfilled, to improve how the government works.
The ease with which they penetrated the rim of the Green Zone suggested that security forces — and perhaps al-Abadi himself, as some hinted — were supportive of the protesters. There were no reports of shots fired, and al-Sadr's own militiamen were said to have taken charge of security near parliament. Later in the evening, security officers fired tear gas and warning shots to prevent more people from entering the enclave.
By nightfall, the protesters were leaving parliament and gathering in another section of the Green Zone — Celebration Square, an area with a famous statue of giant crossed swords that was once a parade ground for Saddam Hussein. The protesters seemed to be settling in there for the night, and al-Abadi said the "security situation in Baghdad is under control."
Just before protesters entered the Green Zone, al-Sadr gave a speech from Najaf, in southern Iraq, saying, "I'm waiting for the great popular uprising and the great revolution to stop the march of corrupted officials."