Pompeo urges Iraq’s prime minister to tackle protesters’ grievances

Pompeo urges Iraq’s prime minister to tackle protesters’ grievances
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged “exercise maximum restraint.” (AFP)
Updated 09 October 2019
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Pompeo urges Iraq’s prime minister to tackle protesters’ grievances

Pompeo urges Iraq’s prime minister to tackle protesters’ grievances
  • Pompeo “urged the Iraqi government to exercise maximum restraint”

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi to “exercise maximum restraint” and “address protesters’ grievances” after more than 100 people were killed in recent demonstrations, the State Department said on Tuesday.
“The secretary lamented the tragic loss of life over the past few days and urged the Iraqi government to exercise maximum restraint,” the department said in a statement.
Pompeo encouraged Abdul Mahdi “to take immediate steps to address the protesters’ grievances by enacting reforms and tackling corruption,” it said.
The US statement said Pompeo and Abdul Mahdi spoke “recently.”