Baghdad

Violent clashes erupted in Iraq's Republican Palace in the heavily protected Green Zone after the powerful Shi'ite cleric announced he would fully withdraw from politics.

Iraq lurched into crisis again, as it does every month, with endless crises and tragedies in Baghdad which can only help Iran.

Millions of Iranians travel to the Iraqi city of Kerbala every year for the ritual of Arbaeen, which marks the end of a 40-day mourning period for the grandson of the Prophet Mohammad, Imam Hussein.

Streets were mostly empty of ordinary people as gunmen cruised in pickup trucks carrying machine guns and brandishing grenade launchers.

Iraq has been swept by political turmoil in the past year as all sides failed to form a government coalition.

“Some areas are more expensive than Dubai and London,” real estate broker Mohsen al-Hamid said.

Thousands of the Shi'ite Muslim cleric's loyalists stormed into the fortified Green Zone in Baghdad on Saturday, taking over the empty parliament building for the second time in a week.

The problem with Iraq is not just sectarianism; it is also a purposeful attempt by the parties to keep the central government weak.

Cartoonist Carol Isaacs, who often draws under the name Surreal McCoy, is set to bring the cinematic adaptation of her award-winning Wolf of Baghdad comic to Israel for the first time.

The protesters are ostensibly angry over the nomination of Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani, Iraq’s former minister of Labor and Social Affairs, who is seen to be a candidate for pro-Iran parties.