AMN/ Web Desk
A large number of Shia activists Saturday stormed Iraq’s parliament in Baghdad protesting against continuing deadlock in approving a new cabinet.
Supporters of cleric Moqtada Sadr broke through barricades of the fortified Green Zone for the first time, after MPs failed to convene for a vote.
A state of emergency was declared and security forces near the US embassy fired tear gas.
According to BBC, Protesters set up camp outside the parliament after occupying the chamber. Nearby foreign embassies are watching anxiously but there has been no
serious violence so far.
Mr Sadr wants Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to commit to a plan to replace ministers with non-partisan technocrats.
Powerful parties in parliament have refused to approve the change for several weeks.
Earlier this week, hundreds of thousands of people marched towards the Green Zone, the 
most secure part of Baghdad that houses embassies and government buildings, to protest against the political deadlock.
Latest report suggests that a state of emergency was declared in the Iraqi capital on Saturday as protesters stormed Iraq’s parliament, after bursting into the Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone, where other key buildings including the U.S. Embassy are located, in a dramatic escalation of the country’s political crisis.
Live footage on Iraqi television showed swarms of protesters, who have been demanding government reform, inside the parliament building, waving flags, chanting and breaking chairs. Some lawmakers were berated and beaten with flags as they fled the building while other demonstrators smashed the car windows. Others remained trapped inside rooms in parliament and feared for their lives, lawmakers said.
Photo: TV footage.