Iraq's Shiite cleric begins sit-in in Baghdad's Green Zone

A firebrand Shiite cleric on Sunday began a sit-in protest inside Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, in the latest bid to keep up pressure on the Iraqi government to come up with effective anti-corruption reforms.

"Our project is to reform, we will not give it up, and I will enter the Green Zone by myself and will sit-in inside the Green Zone and represent the Iraqi people, and you (his followers) keep your sit-in at the gates. None of you move," Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr told hundreds of his followers before walking across the security checkpoint near the parliament building inside the government district.

Thousands of Sadr followers have been camping in anti-corruption sit-in protests outside the gates of the Green Zone, which houses the main government offices and some foreign embassies, demanding substantial reforms to confront the country's economic crisis.

Sadr's latest move came to step up pressure on Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to deliver long-awaited anti-corruption and economic reforms, as well as substantial reshuffle of his cabinet. The reforms were aimed at confronting the country's economic crisis due to the sharp decrease in oil prices in global markets at the time that the security forces are in full combat with IS terrorist group in northern and western Iraq.

During the past five weeks, thousands of Sadr's supporters gathered in downtown Baghdad, demanding reforms, including government reshuffle, better services and an end to corruption, in response to an earlier call by Sadr whose al-Ahrar parliamentary bloc holds 34 seats in the 328-member parliament and three cabinet posts.

Last year, Abadi's reform plan first gained popular support, but with the passing of time the reforms fell short to convince demonstrators who continued their protests and demanded that Abadi be more aggressive against the political parties that benefited from corruption and could reverse the reforms to their own good. Enditem