Shia clerics call Iraqi Prime minister resignation over ongoing anti-corruption riots in #Basra. This comes as the Iraqi government has reportedly imposed a state of emergency in the Basra province in connection with the riots.
The UN Special Representative Kubiš condemned violence in #Basra as harmful to people’s needs, and urged the government to take resolute action while respecting the right of people for peaceful demonstrations for their legitimate demands.
Meanwhile the protesters attacked many sites in the city, setting offices ablaze. The indignant crowd in Iraq’s Basra have moved into the nearby oilfield, in which Russian oil giant ‘Lukoil’ is a major stakeholder. They stormed it and took two hostages, later freeing them unharmed.
The crowd forced its way into a water treatment facility linked to the West Qurna-2 oilfield managed by Lukoil, a source within the Russian energy company and local police source reports. The protesters took two local employees hostage. However, less than an hour later Reuters agency reported that the protesters left the facility peacefully and set both employees free.
No Lukoil employees were injured in the incident, a source told Russian news agency RIA Novosti.
Meanwhile the Iranian Consulate was set ablaze by indignant crowds.
https://twitter.com/zaidbenjamin/status/1038097643522678785
The United States condemned violence against diplomats, including that which occurred in #Basra.
EUROPE DIPLOMATIC 