Iraq LiveBlog: Thousands Protest Against Al-Maliki's Government

1405 GMT: Raed Jarrar, an analyst based in Washington, is reporting that "Iraqi authorities shut down universities in Erbil, Basrah and other Iraqi cities as of today in anticipation to nation-wide protests."

1105 GMT: Sammy Ketz summarised the protests so far in Iraq for AFP:

Protesters in the capital [Baghdad] were forced to walk to the rally site as security forces imposed a vehicle ban, a day after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki claimed the demonstrations were being organised by Al-Qaeda insurgents and loyalists of deposed dictator Saddam Hussein.

Though most of the protests were largely peaceful, clashes between security forces and demonstrators at rallies in the northern city of Mosul and the town of Hawija left seven dead and dozens wounded, while separate rallies in north and west Iraq left a total of eight others injured.

In the capital, troops and police were deployed in force at Tahrir Square, where around 5,000 demonstrators had gathered, and security forces erected concrete blast walls to block entrance to Jumhuriyah bridge, which connects the demonstration site to Baghdad's heavily-fortified Green Zone.

Protesters nevertheless managed to overturn two of the walls, with some of them attempting to cross the bridge. Several lines of anti-riot police quickly blocked it off, however.

An Iraqi MP Sabah al-Saadi attempted to meet with a group of the demonstrators but was met with shouts and jeers upon his arrival, with one protesters asking, "Why are MPs taking millions of dinars (thousands of dollars) in salary?"

"You have to cut your salary -- we have nothing! Why are you taking so much money when we have no money?"

1020 GMT: Al Baghdadia is carrying live-stream footage of the Iraq protests.

0915 GMT: Al Jazeera is now reporting two killed and five injured in protests in Mosul in northern Iraq.

0907 GMT: CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq reports that, in Hawija, north of Baghdad, angry protesters attacked the city council's offices and set the building on fire.

AFP's Prashant Rao reports protests in Kut, Karbala, and Nasiriyah, with chants against the Prime Minister, "Liar, Liar, Maliki" and "Saddam, Saddam, Nuri al-Maliki".

0905 GMT: Iraqi authorities have re-arrested Muntadhar al-Zaidi, the journalist who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush during a Baghdad press conference in December 2008.

Al Zaidi, who served nine months of a three-year sentence for the shoe-throwing, was detained by the military in northern Iraq.

0856 GMT: Serena Chaudhary of Reuters claims more deaths in Iraq protests, "At least two killed and 22 wounded in clashes in Hawija, six wounded in Sulaiman Pek."

0840 GMT: Al Jazeera is reporting two killed and 10 injured in the protests in Kirkuk in northern Iraq.

There is an unconfirmed claim that security forces have opened fire on protests in Mosul.

0830 GMT: Reports from Iraq now streaming in, including demonstrations of 1000 in Baghdad, amidst a heavy military presence, chanting, "[Prime Minister] Nouri al Maliki is a liar!", and 2000 people in rally in Basra. There are claims that the Governor of Basra has resigned and three protesters have killed in Kirkuk.

0825 GMT: Josh Mull reports, "State/Sectarian TV in Iraq, including in Kurdistan, [has] broadcast warnings against attending February 25 [protests]", with the prospect of violence and suicide bombings. He continues, "Kurdish TV even broadcast images of Saddam's genocidal attacks on Kurds, implying that this would happen again."

0540 GMT: We will be keeping an eye out for called protests in Egypt, where the opposition coalition is pressing for replacement of the transitional Cabinet, and in Iraq, where criticism of economic conditions and the political situation has been mounting.