DAMASCUS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th October, 2019) Saudi broadcaster Al Arabiya and its subsidiary project Al Hadath announced on Sunday night that Iraqi authorities had suspended their in the country due to a lack of a license.
According to Al Hadath's statement, the Iraqi police demanded that the correspondents of both channels "stop all journalistic activities," mentioning the same reason. It noted that both channels were reporting protests in various Iraqi cities at that moment.
The broadcaster also recalled that unidentified armed men broke into Al Arabiya office in Baghdad on October 5, smashing expensive equipment and several mobile phones, and injuring the broadcaster's employees.
Iraqi human rights activists reported on Saturday that 63 people had been killed and over 2,500 injured across the country over two days of anti-government protests.
The protests began on October 1 and were suspended in mid-October for pilgrimage before resuming on Friday. During the first wave of protests, 149 people were killed and around 3,500 people sustained injuries.
The protesters call on the government to resign, and demand economic reforms and fighting against corruption. As the protests resumed on Friday, Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said that he would carry out a cabinet reshuffle and introduce changes to election laws. Mahdi said that the government's resignation, demanded by protesters, would throw the country in chaos.
