A call by the head of a rival group for dialogue was rejected by the movement of Iraqi Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, amid rising tensions across the country.
Amid protests by supporters against the nomination of a new prime minister, Hadi al-Ameri, the head of the Shia Al-Fatah coalition, earlier called on al-Sadr to engage in dialogue.
However, the call was rejected by Ahmed al-Mutayri, the head of the al-Sadr movement’s political bureau, who urged al-Ameri to withdraw from the Coordination Framework, a coalition of groups close to Iran.
He added, “Any dialogue is conditional on the withdrawal of al-Ameri and his group from the Coordination Framework.”
Following the nomination of Mohammed Shia al-Sudani as a new prime minister by the Coordination Framework, in a move that triggered protests by al-Sadr’s supporters, tensions escalated across Iraq in recent days.
Following the country’s general elections last October, which failed since then to agree on a new government between the rival parties, Iraq has been in a political deadlock for nine months.
