Iraqi security forces fired teargas and live bullets in clashes on Sunday with protesters angered by high-level corruption who resisted with stones and petrol bombs, Reuters witnesses and security sources said.
One protester was killed in Baghdad, police sources said, and more than 100 demonstrators were hurt in the violence in the capital and several other cities after the security forces tried to clear sit-in protest camps, medical sources said.
Other medical sources said 75 of those hurt were in the southern city of Nassariya, where a Reuters witness said protesters set fire to two security vehicles and hundreds of other demonstrators controlled key bridges in the city.
The protesters are demanding the removal of what they consider a corrupt ruling elite and an end to foreign interference in Iraqi politics, especially by Iran, which dominates state institutions.