Protesters who stormed Iraq's Green Zone confined to Sadr City
BAGHDAD -- There were thousands of heavily armed police out today, new blast walls had sprung up overnight and there were rows of armored personnel carriers -- even tanks -- in the streets.
Last weekend thousands of protesters stormed the Green Zone and over ran parliament, accusing the government of corruption.
It looked like an uprising.
They were acting largely on the orders of Muqtada al Sadr, the powerful Shiite cleric whose militias fought raging street battles against U.S. soldiers at the height of the insurgency in 2004.
Today the massive security cordon meant his supporters were confined to Sadr City, the sprawling Shia neighborhood on the edge of Baghdad.
It hasn't changed much in the years since the war has ended.
"They don't care about us," said Said, who was in Al Batad and said he'd taken part in the protest. "Look at the poor the hungry, there's no electricity, no drinkable water, and no jobs. How shameful is that?"
Hakim al Zamani, Moqtada al Sadr's deputy, said the country's problems had to be addressed.
"For 13 years all we've gotten are bombings, corruption, very little security, a weak economy and ISIS," he said. "We have run out of time, we cannot wait any longer."
The Pentagon said that 25 more Marines have been sent to the U.S. Embassy in the Green Zone as a precaution.