MESOPOTAMIA NEWS ROUND UP IRAQ/ BY POMED

27 Jan 2020 – POMED – At least one person was killed and more than 100 wounded when security forces opened fire on demonstrators and tried to clear out protest camps yesterday. “Unidentified men” also reportedly set fire to some of the camps after clashes in Nassariya in southern Iraq, a little more than 200 miles south of Baghdad.

• According to Reuters, “Protests have flared in the last two days after populist cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, many of whose supporters had participated, said he would no longer be involved in anti-government demonstrations.”
• This has complicated the protest movement, which is now somewhat fractured as some protest against the American troop presence—Sadr’s current focus—and others wish to continue the emphasis on pushing out establishment figures seen as too close to Iran or the United States, but not representing Iraqis.
• Late last night, rockets hit the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, reportedly injuring one. No one has yet claimed responsibility.