‘Just Give Us a Country’: Thousands in Iraq Protest Corruption – The New York Times

After three demonstrators were killed on Tuesday by riot police officers who resorted to live fire, Mr. Mehdi ordered the security forces to refrain from the use of bullets. By nightfall on Wednesday, however, it seemed that some police officers may have ignored his instructions as more people were reported shot.

Officials in the prime minister’s office said the government had cut off the internet to hinder the use of social media by protesters, but the extent of such a shutdown was unclear.

The protests have veered from furious attacks on government property to peaceful, even ecumenical, pleas for the government to respond to citizens’ needs. At dusk in Baghdad, some Sunni and Shia Muslims joined together in prayer.

Some demonstrators carried banners that seemed in keeping with Mr. Mehdi’s statement that both the police and the demonstrators were sons of Iraq. But some banners also appeared aimed at rallying the police to the side of the protesters.

One banner read: “Oh you soldier, do not open fire. I am your brother. Your mother and my mother cry the same tears. You fight for me and I demonstrate for you.”