BAGHDAD: Supporters of Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr have closed their day-long protest outside the compound of the Supreme Judicial Council in Baghdad demanding the dissolution of Parliament.

In a statement as the demonstrators left their sit-in location, the SJC said that it would continue its operations on Wednesday morning. Al-assistant Sadr's Mohammed Salih al-Iraqi said in a statement that the purpose of Tuesday's sit-in was to "urge the SJC to hold the corrupt accountable, but we advise the protestors to withdraw to prevent bringing harm to the people."

A sit-in protest was started in front of the SJC compound earlier on Tuesday by hundreds of al-Sadr supporters who also threatened the council by sending them threatening letters in an effort to persuade the federal court to dissolve Parliament and call fresh elections.

Caretaker Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi had to cancel his trip to Egypt for a five-way Arab summit because of the suspension of the SJC.

Al-Kadhimi, who is also the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi forces, has returned to Baghdad to personally oversee the security troops guarding judicial institutions. He urged an urgent meeting of political leaders to launch a national debate to diffuse the issue, warning that disrupting the work of the legal system exposed the nation to significant risks.
"The country's developments need everyone to maintain calm and give priority to conversation so that the country does not veer into uncharted and dangerous mazes in which everyone loses," stated President Barham Salih in.  Interfering with the judiciary's operations "is a serious matter that threatens the country." Mohammed al-Halbousi, the speaker of parliament, stated that "we must all turn to the constitution and be at the level of responsibility to get the country out of this suffocating crisis that may lead to the illegality of the political process." he  said.

The latest sit-in occurred as tensions between al-Sadr and competing Shia groups in the umbrella organisation of the Coordination Framework (CF) had risen in recent weeks. Al-supporters Sadr's staged an open sit-in on July 30 inside and outside the heavily guarded Green Zone in the centre of Baghdad, demanding the dissolution of the legislature and early elections, which were all rejected by the CF parties.

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