Baghdad : Iraq's political reform process was in limbo Monday after protesters demanding a change of government reacted to weeks of stalling by storming parliament.
Security concerns were also high due to the presence in Baghdad of thousands of Shiite pilgrims, who were targeted for the second time in three days with a suicide bombing that killed at least 14 people.
Demonstrators pulled out of the Green Zone, where parliament is located, on Sunday evening, a day after breaching the walls of the fortified government district.
But the protesters, most of whom are followers of outspoken cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, also warned they would be back on the streets of Baghdad on Friday if their demands were not met.
Sadr supports Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's efforts to form a new cabinet of technocrats to replace the current government of party-affiliated ministers, accused of graft and sectarianism.
There was no clear plan of action emerging Monday from any of the main players and several sources said Sadr himself flew to neighbouring Iran, the main foreign broker among Shiite political blocs in Iraq.
"The leader of the Sadrist movement left at 11:00 am from Najaf airport to the Imam Khomeini airport" southwest of Tehran, a Najaf airport official told AFP.
"Sadr took two other clerics with him," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
A political source in Baghdad had the same information but there was no confirmation from either his office or Tehran.
Iraq's lawmakers looked unlikely to hold another session this week however, with the main parliament building requiring a massive cleanup following Saturday's events.
Thousands of mostly Sadrist protesters pulled down blast walls around the GreenZone and stormed the chamber after MPs again failed to agree on reforms.
Some MPs were roughed up on Saturday and their vehicles vandalised, and lawmakers appeared wary of exposing themselves to another attack.
"It was decided to hold a parliamentary session next week in another place because the (parliament) hall was damaged," MP Abbas al-Bayati told AFP.
There was no official statement from the speaker on the issue however.
