Special report: Unrest in Baghdad

Amanpour

CNN

News

4.1 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 30 August 2022

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Iraq’s capital city has seen violent protests that left at least 21 dead after weeks of tensions. The spark was ignited after influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr announced on Twitter that he was quitting politics for good. This comes after his supporters were unable to form a government, despite winning the most seats in parliament last year. Al-Sadr’s announcement sent a shockwave through Baghdad and his loyalists stormed the so-called Green Zone, prompting al-Sadr to apologize to the nation for the violence and urged protesters to go home. Correspondent Ben Wedeman has the latest. For more on the unrest, and to explain the background, Sara speaks with Feisal Amin al-Istrabadi, who as Iraq’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations had firsthand experience of Iraqi politics and diplomacy. Also on today's show: Craig Whitlock, author of The Afghanistan Papers, which examines how that country's war was sold -- and mis-sold -- to the public; Jason Reid, author of Rise of the Black Quarterback; Global Citizen CEO Hugh Evans and Grammy Award-winning musician Angelique Kidjo on the 10th anniversary of the Global Citizen Festival. To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to Ammonpour. Here's what's coming up.
0:10.0	Violence in Baghdad. in Baghdad, how a powerful leader's decision to quit politics led to deadly protests.
0:19.0	Former Iraqi ambassador to the UN, Faisal Amin al-Eil al-Eil al-E Amin al-Ezravari joins me.
0:24.6	Plus, the war in Afghanistan is now over.
0:28.5	A year ago since the last American soldier left Afghanistan. I ask investigative reporter Craig Whitlock
0:35.0	where the country is now. Then never before in this league and professional
0:39.7	sports most successful and powerful league had black men been in a position to do such great things collectively.
0:47.0	The rise of the black quarterback, NFL writer Jason Reed, tells our Michelle Martin how black players are revolutionizing that game and The voice of African pop, Angelique Kedjo. She joins me alongside Global Citizen Festival co-founder Hugh Evans. Welcome to the program. I'm Sarah Sidner in New York sitting in for Christian
1:30.6	Amanpour. The Iraqi capital has seen violent protests that left at least 21
1:36.2	people dead after weeks of tensions. The spark was ignited after influential Shiite
1:41.9	cleric, McTada Al-Sader, announced on Twitter Mark was ignited after influential Shiite cleric
1:42.5	Muktada al-Sader announced on Twitter he was quitting politics for good.
1:47.5	This comes after his supporters were unable to form a government even though they won the
1:51.2	most number of seats in Parliament in last year's
1:53.8	elections.
1:54.8	Alsada's announcement sent a shockwave through Baghdad, his loyalist, you see them
1:59.6	there storming the so-called Green Zone, the seat of the Parliament and the
2:03.8	presidential palace.
2:05.4	Al-Sader said his leaving politics was in response to the failure of other Shiite
2:10.2	leaders many of whom are backed by Iran, to address corruption and decaying governing systems.
2:17.0	Today, he apologized to the nation for the violence and urged protesters to go home.
2:24.0	Correspondent Ben Weedeman has our latest.
	...

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