UN envoy meets al-Sadr to end political crisis in Iraq

BAGHDAD (AA) – UN special envoy for Iraq Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert on Friday met prominent Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in Najaf to discuss the country’s political crisis, state media reported.

According to the official Iraqi News Agency, Plasschaert said her meeting with the leader of the Sadrist movement "went well."

Plasschaert is meeting major Iraqi political figures to promote dialogue and end deadlock over the formation of a national government.

She met in Baghdad on Thursday Hadi Al-Amiri, leader of the Fateh Alliance, and "discussed the political situation in the country, including the need for all actors to prioritize the national interest and find solutions to the ongoing crisis," according to a statement by the UN mission in Iraq.

Al-Sadr has called for the dissolution of parliament, and holding of early elections as political crisis has prevented the formation of a government since the Oct. 10, 2021 elections, in which he won the largest number of seats.

His supporters stormed Baghdad’s government zone and broke into parliament twice last week, rejecting Mohammad Shia al-Sudani, a nominee of the Coordination Framework coalition, a collection of Iran-backed groups, for the post of prime minister.

*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat