Earlier in the week, the situation in Iraq threatened to escalate between Shia groups. Iraq expert Thomas Schmidinger on the man behind the protests in Baghdad, the role played by the USA and the danger of an impending civil war.
Prof. Schmidinger, on Tuesday night, more than 30 people were killed in fighting between Shiite groups in the government district in Baghdad. In the meantime, the protesters have cleared the “Green Zone” again – how dangerous is the situation?
From what I hear from friends in Baghdad, the situation has calmed down for the time being. Yesterday people were able to go to work normally again. At the same time, however, one must realize that this is only a ceasefire. The rival troops are still armed and in place. In addition, the political problems that fueled the conflict have not been resolved. The fights can break out again at any time.