Huge Sunni protests sharpen Iraq’s sectarian divide


Issue 939 - 24 Jan 2013 | 6 minute read

The Iraqi government’s 20 December raids on staff of finance minister Rafi Al-Issawi triggered the strongest protests Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki has faced since coming to power in 2006. The surge of anger in restive Al-Anbar combined with that over army presence and alleged prison rapes in Nineveh, and later spread to Salah Ad-Din and Sunni parts of Baghdad. In the weeks since, tens of thousands of Sunnis have poured onto the streets to express a range of frustrations, blocking the main trade route to Jordan and Syria, and sharpening the sectarian divide.

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