Iraq cleric’s supporters rally in capital despite pandemic

Followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, in the posters, gather in Tahrir Square, Baghdad (Khalid Mohammed/AP)

Thousands of Iraqis, most of them not wearing protective masks, took to the streets in Baghdad on Friday in a show of support for a radical cleric ahead of elections next year, stirring fears of a spike in coronavirus cases.

Supporters congregated in the capital’s Tahrir Square, once the epicentre of mass anti-government protests, to show their support for Moqtada al-Sadr, who leads a powerful political bloc, ahead of federal elections slated for next June.