Baghdad's bloody protests mark resumption of Shi'ite power struggle

FILE PHOTO: Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr shout slogans during a protest demanding an overhaul of the elections' supervision commission ahead of provincial elections due in September in Baghdad, Iraq, February 11, 2017. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani/File Photo

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Bloody protests in Baghdad over the weekend by followers of influential cleric Moqtada al-Sadr signal the resumption of a power struggle between Iraq's Shi'ite leaders which had been put on hold to focus on the war against Islamic State.

With Iraqi forces all but certain to defeat Islamic State in Mosul this year, Sadr has begun mobilizing his supporters ahead of two elections, for provincial councils in September and the crucial parliamentary vote, by April 2018.