Top Iraqi cleric casts doubt on reforms offered to defuse unrest

FILE PHOTO: Demonstrators use a tuk-tuk during the ongoing anti-government protests in Baghdad, Iraq November 10, 2019. REUTERS/Alaa al-Marjani

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric on Monday expressed concern that the political elite is not serious about enacting reforms in the face of mass unrest and said protesters should not go home until concrete steps had been taken to meet their demands.

Security forces shot dead two protesters in the city of Nassiriya, bringing to 300 the number of people have been killed since protests against political corruption, unemployment and poor public services erupted in Baghdad on Oct. 1 and spread to the southern Shi'ite heartlands.