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Iraqi security
forces used live and rubber bullets as well as tear gas to
dislodge the protesters from the district that houses government
buildings, parliament and embassies.
The toll, compiled from four hospitals where casualties were
taken as well as Baghdad's central morgue, accounts for bullet
wounds only, not cases of suffocation caused by tear gas.
The disturbance was the second breach of the Green Zone in less
than a month.
Protesters included supporters of powerful Shi'ite Muslim cleric
Moqtada al-Sadr and people from other groups upset with the
government's failure to approve anti-corruption reforms and
improve security against bombings by Islamic State militants.
The government briefly imposed a curfew on Baghdad on Friday and
authorities later said that order had returned after what they
called rioting at the Green Zone.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, in a late-night speech,
condemned the Green Zone breach and warned against chaos and
strife: "The law must take its course with every transgressor."
Sadr expressed support for what he called a "peaceful
spontaneous revolt" and condemned the government for "killing
its children in cold blood".
(Reporting by Kareem Raheem; Writing by Maher Chmaytelli;
Editing by Mark Heinrich)
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