Iraq court session on dissolving parliament delayed after unrest

Iraqi security forces said that four rockets had landed in Baghdad's Green Zone

Judge Jassim Mohammed Aboud, head of the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court, and other judges attending a session in Baghdad in January. EPA

Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court will delay a session scheduled to discuss the case for dissolving parliament on Tuesday following recent unrest in the country.

“All the courts, including the Federal Court, did not consider the cases presented before them today due to the curfew and the disruption of the work of all state institutions,” the court said in a statement.

Violence erupted on Monday after Shiite cleric Moqtada Al Sadr announced that he was quitting politics.

At least 23 of his supporters have been confirmed dead after being shot in Baghdad's Green Zone.

Iraqi security forces said on Tuesday that four rockets landed in the fortified zone, damaging residences.

The court said last week it would discuss the case brought by the head of the Sadrist movement's political body.

Nassar Al Rubaie had called for a ruling to dissolve parliament and force the president to set a date for legislative elections in accordance with the Iraqi constitution.

On August 10, Mr Al Sadr gave Iraq's Supreme Judiciary Council a week to dissolve parliament to end the political stand-off, but the council said it lacked the authority as only legislators could vote to dissolve the legislature.

Iraq has been mired in political deadlock for months, with followers of Mr Al Sadr and his political rivals — a coalition of Iran-backed Shiite political groups and militias — at odds over forming a new government after last year’s parliamentary elections.

Mr Al Sadr's bloc won the largest share of seats in the October vote but failed to form a majority government, leading to one of Iraq's worst political crises in recent years.