Iraqi Shiite cleric and political leader Moqtada Al Sadr met UN special representative to Iraq Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert on Friday, amid an escalating political crisis in the country.
This came as hundreds of thousands of Mr Al Sadr's supporters gathered in Baghdad for Friday prayers in a show of strength.
“It was a great honour to speak with him again in person, and to discuss the importance of finding solutions to the many challenges facing Iraq,” Ms Hennis-Plasschaert said, after meeting Mr Al Sadr at his home in the city of Najaf, in central Iraq.
On Wednesday, Mr Al Sadr had instructed his followers to carry on with their protest sit-in at Iraq's Parliament, in Baghdad's Green Zone, the heavily fortified central area that houses government buildings and foreign embassies.
Mr Al Sadr also called for new elections, the dissolution of Parliament and amendments to the constitution.
Iraq's political processes have been in deadlock since a general election last October, with parties unable to agree on forming a new government.
The Sadrists had the largest bloc in Parliament until it resigned en masse in June, on the orders of Mr Al Sadr, who said he would not take part in a corrupt political process.
Hundreds of thousands of supporters from across Iraq reportedly heeded Mr Al Sadr's call to gather in the capital on Friday, as temperatures reached 48°C, for a mass prayer.
Followers congregated at Victory Arch, a monument erected during Saddam Hussein’s regime to commemorate the Iran-Iraq war.
Farid Jaafar, 16, arrived from the central province of Babylon to show his support for Mr Al Sadr. His transport was paid by Mr Al Sadr’s party. “I love Moqtada,” he said.
Holding the prayer within the Green Zone, which is closed off to most Iraqis, indicates Mr Al Sadr's power and influence.
Last Saturday, thousands of his followers stormed parliament in a bid to derail attempts by Shiite rivals to form a government. About 100 protesters and 25 members of the security forces were injured in clashes.
Mr Al Sadr’s followers occupied Parliament for four days, until he ordered them to withdraw from the building, but maintain a sit-in nearby.
Some Shiite rivals in the Iran-backed Coordination Framework have said they would consider holding new elections in the event of a national consensus.
Top investing tips for UAE residents in 2021
Build an emergency fund: Make sure you have enough cash to cover six months of expenses as a buffer against unexpected problems before you begin investing, advises Steve Cronin, the founder of DeadSimpleSaving.com.
Think long-term: When you invest, you need to have a long-term mindset, so don’t worry about momentary ups and downs in the stock market.
Invest worldwide: Diversify your investments globally, ideally by way of a global stock index fund.
Is your money tied up: Avoid anything where you cannot get your money back in full within a month at any time without any penalty.
Skip past the promises: “If an investment product is offering more than 10 per cent return per year, it is either extremely risky or a scam,” Mr Cronin says.
Choose plans with low fees: Make sure that any funds you buy do not charge more than 1 per cent in fees, Mr Cronin says. “If you invest by yourself, you can easily stay below this figure.” Managed funds and commissionable investments often come with higher fees.
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Get financially independent: Mr Cronin advises UAE residents to pursue financial independence. Start with a Google search and improve your knowledge via expat investing websites or Facebook groups such as SimplyFI.
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Gertrude Bell's life in focus
A feature film
At one point, two feature films were in the works, but only German director Werner Herzog’s project starring Nicole Kidman would be made. While there were high hopes he would do a worthy job of directing the biopic, when Queen of the Desert arrived in 2015 it was a disappointment. Critics panned the film, in which Herzog largely glossed over Bell’s political work in favour of her ill-fated romances.
A documentary
A project that did do justice to Bell arrived the next year: Sabine Krayenbuhl and Zeva Oelbaum’s Letters from Baghdad: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Gertrude Bell. Drawing on more than 1,000 pieces of archival footage, 1,700 documents and 1,600 letters, the filmmakers painstakingly pieced together a compelling narrative that managed to convey both the depth of Bell’s experience and her tortured love life.
Books, letters and archives
Two biographies have been written about Bell, and both are worth reading: Georgina Howell’s 2006 book Queen of the Desert and Janet Wallach’s 1996 effort Desert Queen. Bell published several books documenting her travels and there are also several volumes of her letters, although they are hard to find in print. Original documents are housed at the Gertrude Bell Archive at the University of Newcastle, which has an online catalogue.
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