Iraqi security forces fired tear gas and rubber-coated bullets at thousands of supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr, an influential Shia leader, who were demonstrating on Saturday near Baghdad's Green Zone to press for electoral changes. One police officer was killed during Saturday's protests, according to police and hospital officials who said seven other policemen were injured along with dozens of protesters. Muqtada al-Sadr, the Shia leader, accused the elections commission of being corrupt and called for the commission's members to be changed, according to a statement from his office. Correspondents say the clashes broke out when police tried to disperse protesters who tried to cross a bridge that links Tahrir Square with Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, a part of the city that houses government buildings, embassies, and international organizations. Sadr has urged the demonstrators to hold a sit-in in the zone while Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has called on the protesters to remain peaceful and to "abide by the law."
Violence erupts at a protest rally in Baghdad, Iraq, killing at least four protesters and one police officer. Thousands of supporters of Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr gathered in the capital to demand an overhaul of the country's electoral system.