Iraqi dies as security forces fire at demo

A protester has died when violence erupted at a rally in Baghdad to demand justice for pro-reform activists who have been killed in Iraq.

Security forces fired live rounds as their confrontation with protesters boiled over at the rally, according to witnesses.

The semi-official High Commission for Human Rights said one protester was killed.

Other unconfirmed reports said several others were wounded.

Amid a heavy security presence, Iraqis from across the country had gathered in the central Tahrir Square to protest what they see as a lack of accountability for the targetted killings.

They waved Iraqi flags and held up photographs of slain activists.

Earlier this month, Iraqi activist Ihab Jawad Al-Wazni was shot dead by unknown gunmen outside his house in Karbala.

His death was the latest in a series of attacks on reform advocates in Iraq, with protesters blaming pro-Iranian militias for the killings.

Many protesters in Iraq feel that Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, who had previously pledged to identify and hold the killers accountable, has done little to reveal the culprits.

Laith Hussein, 27 and a member of Baghdad's student union, said they were protesting "to object against a political system that is not truly democratic but pretends to be".