Baghdad Declares State of Emergency
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - A state of emergency has been declared in Baghdad and the city's gates closed after hundreds of protesters stormed its parliament, media reports said.
Supporters of Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr stormed Baghdad's Green Zone and entered the parliament building.
It comes after lawmakers failed to convene for a vote on overhauling the government, two witnesses said.
Protesters have also blocked the city's airport in a bid to prevent officials from fleeing the country.
The protesters, who had gathered outside the heavily fortified district housing government buildings and many foreign embassies, crossed a bridge over the Tigris River chanting, "The cowards ran away!" in apparent reference to lawmakers leaving parliament, one of the witnesses said.
A guard at a checkpoint said the protesters had not been searched before entering. About ten members of the armed group loyal to Sadr were checking protesters cursorily as government security forces who usually conduct careful searches with bomb-sniffing dogs stood by the side, the witness said, Mirror reported.
The protesters wove Iraqi flags and chanted "Peaceful, peaceful!". Some were standing on top of concrete blast walls that form the outer barrier to the Green Zone.
Thousands more remained at the gates of the district.
