Qatar issues travel advisory for Iraq amid deadly protests - report

Qatar Foreign Ministry has issued a fresh travel advisory for its citizens planning to travel to Iraq, Reuters reported on Friday. The Qatari authorities have urged its citizens to refrain from travelling to Iraq as violent protests choke Baghdad.

The protests in Iraq are fuelled by popular rage over poor living standards and corruption in the country and have escalated by the day, sweeping across southern cities since they first erupted on Tuesday. The Iraqi government has imposed a curfew but it was defied by thousands of demonstrators and several incidents of the army and special forces firing live rounds at protesters have been reported.

Prime Minister Abdul Mahdi acknowledged the public discontent in an overnight television message, insisting politicians were aware of the suffering of the masses: "We do not live in ivory towers - we walk among you in the streets of Baghdad," he said. He called for calm and for support from lawmakers to reshuffle cabinet posts away from the influence of big parties and groups. He said a basic wage for poor families would be discussed by the government, but that no "magic solutions" had been available to fix the country.

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