Iraqi protesters storm Saudi channel HQ in Baghdad

Protesters were angry at what they describe as insulting coverage of Muhandis, the late leader of the Popular Mobilisation Forces, by MBC channel.

Participants holds posters of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al Muhandis, vice president of the Hashd al Shaabi group as they listen to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's speech during a meeting in Tehran, Iran on January 8, 2020.
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Participants holds posters of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al Muhandis, vice president of the Hashd al Shaabi group as they listen to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's speech during a meeting in Tehran, Iran on January 8, 2020.

Iraqi demonstrators on Monday stormed the premises of the Saudi-owned MBC channel in Baghdad to protest what they describe as an insult to late Shia leader Abu Mahdi al Muhandis.

Scores of angry protesters gathered outside the MBC office in central Baghdad before forcing their way into the building and destroying everything inside.

Waving photos of Muhandis and Iraqi flags, protesters chanted slogans against Saudi Arabia during their rally.

"We don't accept any insult to Al Muhandis, who is one of Iraq's symbols," Hussein al Jumaili, a protester, told Anadolu Agency.

He said the Saudi-controlled channel aired a documentary about the bombing of US and French embassies in Kuwait in 1983 in which Muhandis was described as a "terrorist."

Security forces were deployed in the area and brought the situation under control.

There was no comment from the MBC channel on the protests.

Muhandis, the leader of the Popular Mobilisation Forces, was killed along with top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in a US drone air strike in Iraq in January.

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