Baghdad, June 11 (AKnews) – The Sunni-backed al-Iraqiya bloc led by former interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi expressed outrage at the burning of Allawi's photos in the pro-government protests in Baghdad on Friday.
Al-Iraqiya spokesman Shaker Kattab described the burning of Allawi's photo as "unacceptable", saying that the protesters should abide by an ethical code of conduct concerning their opponents.
On Friday, pro-government demonstrators along with supporters of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Dawa party, took to the streets after tribal leaders called for the execution of the perpetrators of the al-Dujail incident – a 70-member wedding party that was wiped out by al-Qaeda agents.
The demonstration was soon followed by a second rally.
Several hundred protestors took to the streets of Baghdad - at the end of a 100-day period set by Maliki for his cabinet to improve its performance - calling for government officials to step down and criticizing Maliki's performance so far.
The two groups eventually clashed and the Maliki's supporters ripped and burned Allawi's photos and struck them with their shoes, a gesture considered highly disrespectful in Arab Culture.
"The al-Iraqiya list condemns the burning of photos of the list's leader, Ayad Allawi, in the Tahrir Square" said Kattab, "this is unacceptable in the same way as the misconducts and abuses chanted by the protesters against the Prime Minister in the previous demos."
"The government should have dealt with the protesters by receiving their demands and putting them into a short-term or long-term political program," said Kattab, "we were hoping the protesters would be received and their demands be listened to contrary to what happened which really disappointed us."
Written by Raber Y. Aziz, reported by Yazn al-Shammari (AKnews)
