Iraq begins national mourning for protest dead

Baghdad: Iraq began three days of national mourning Thursday for more than 100 people killed during recent protests, while the government was expected to present a reshuffle to parliament in response to the political crisis.
While social media sites in Iraq remained inaccessible — except intermittently via virtual private network (VPN) applications — more images emerged of the violence over the past week in which mainly protesters died from live fire.
Footage showed demonstrators — who initially demanded jobs and services before calling for “the fall of the regime” — being fatally shot, or running for cover under heavy fire.
Authorities initially blamed “unidentified snipers” and infiltrating “saboteurs” but later acknowledged that the military had used “excessive force” in the Shiite bastion of Sadr City in Baghdad.
The judiciary also announced that a riot police officer had “confessed to killing a protester” in Hilla, south of Baghdad.
Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi responded to public anger in his second public address in less than a week, pledging to propose a cabinet reshuffle to parliament on Thursday.