The Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi has announced his resignation in view of the massive protests in the country. In doing so, he wants to prevent the country from sliding into further violence and chaos, Mahdi said in an address broadcast on state television.

The Prime Minister will submit his resignation to the Parliament. The announcement was met by the demonstrators at Tahrir Square in Baghdad with great joy.

The resignation came after Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani had called on the parliament to withdraw their support for the government. Speaking in the name of Sistani in Karbala, Ahmed El Safi appealed to the parliament to act in line with Iraq’s interests in order to protect the blood of their children, and not to allow the country to slide into violence, chaos and devastation. The sermon by al-Sistani was welcomed by the demonstrators as a strong sign of support.

In the meantime, Iraqi security forces have killed five more demonstrators and wounded dozens of them in the Nasiriyah city south of the country. Two police stations were set on fire and the chief of police resigned in the city.

On Thursday, the governor of the Zikar province resigned and the military commander appointed by Baghdad was removed from post.

According to the police and hospital sources, as many as 50 protesters were killed and some a thousand wounded in mainly Nasiriyah, in Najah and Baghdad on Thursday.

The protests began on 1 October and more than 400 people have been killed and around 16,000 people have been injured in the protests that demand the resignation of the government and the political class considered nothing but corrupt and fraudulent.