Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi has announced his intention to resign from the country's parliament. That told the office of the head of government on Friday. The decision falls in response to calls from the high-level Shiite cleric in Iraq, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, to form a new government.
"In response to this request, and in order for it to be implemented as soon as possible, I request Parliament to accept my resignation from the office of Prime Minister," said a statement that Mahdi personally signed.
The country has been shaken for weeks by riots that left many demonstrators dead. Among the activists in the Tahrir Square in Baghdad rejoiced in the face of the resignation announcement, the news agency AFP reports.
Permanent protests in Iraq
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