A huge protest against corruption in Iraq turned violent on Saturday.<br /><br /> Demonstrators demanding electoral reform tried to force their way into Baghdad’s heavily-fortified Green Zone, which houses government offices and embassies.<br /><br /> As well as tear gas, rubber bullets were reportedly fired by security forces in clashes that left several people injured and at least one police officer dead.<br /><br /> “We demand a change of government,” said one protester, Ali al-Saddi.<br /><br /> “We want patriotic people to replace them and start rebuilding Iraq. The elections were manipulated and a sham. Every four years we have the same people. We want honest people.”<br /><br /> The protesters, mainly supporters of prominent Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, want a commision supervising elections to be overhauled ahead of a provincial vote in September.<br /><br /> Rampant corruption in Iraq comes as the country battles to defeat ISIL militants in a US-backed campaign discussed in Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s first phone call with President Trump last week.<br /><br /> The White House said that both leaders also “spoke to the threat Iran presents across the entire region”.<br /><br /> Iraq said Abadi also asked Trump to lift the ban on people from his country travelling to the US – although American courts have now suspended those restrictions.<br />
