By Neelam Rahim

The deadly fighting in Iraq’s capital appears to have subsided after the figure at the centre of the crisis told his supporters to end their protests.

Thirty people have been killed in Baghdad after fighting between supporters and rivals of Muqtada al-Sadr, while hundreds have been wounded.

Speaking to Radio Islam International Is Azhar Al-Rubaie, an Iraqi freelance journalist and researcher based in Iraq. He specialises in politics, health, society, wars and human rights.

According to Azhar, the situation in Iraq just returned to everyday life after two days of clashes between the supporters and rivals.

He said the Muqtada al-Sadr supporters who have been carrying guns around after being called to end their actions and withdraw from the green zone on Tuesday.

The green zone is an area which hosts foreign diplomatic missions and the Iraqi government House.

An issue that was the catalyst for all of this was Muqtada al-Sadr’s resignation on Monday. Azhar said it’s not the first time he has retired from politics and then returned to the political process.

“Iraq might go into early elections.”

The Sadr rival’s donations frameworks want to form a government away from the Sadr presence and government.

In the event of early elections, Azhar said it would be the same dynamics, but they will modify or change some articles of the Iraq constitution. This means the party that wins the majority of seats will have the right to form the government.

According to Azhar, Muqtada al-Sadr will win the majority of seats in the next election, and they will form the next government in Iraq.

Listen to the interview on Radio Islam’s podcast below.