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Iraq's embattled leaders on Sunday pledged wide reforms in a fresh effort to assuage anti-government protests that have paralysed the country and left hundreds dead.
At least 319 protesters and security personnel have been killed in the demonstrations since they erupted in early October, the Iraqi parliament's human rights committee said, according to the official news agency INA, without giving a breakdown.
Street protests, mostly by young people, have roiled Iraq in two waves, mainly in the capital Baghdad and the oil-rich south.
Demonstrators have decried corruption, a lack of jobs and poor access to electricity and clean water.

The demonstrators have also demanded the resignation of the government, the dissolution of parliament and an overhaul of the country's political system, which has been in place since the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq.
On Sunday, President Barham Salih, Prime Minister Adel Abdel-Mahdi and parliament head Mohammed al-Halbousi promised in a joint statement to combat corruption and work for an electoral reform.
They called on the country's political powers to accept “positive” changes.
“They [changes] are particularly related to having a government shake-up based on efficiency, and initiating a national dialogue to revise the ruling system and the constitution,” they added in the statement following talks in Baghdad.

The chief of Iraq's Supreme Judiciary Council, Iraq's highest judicial authority, Faeq Zidan, attended too.
Iraqi governments have been formed along political and sectarian lines since the 2003 invasion which deposed dictator Saddam Hussein.
Critics say the system contributes to corruption and incompetence in state institutions.
The three leaders on Saturday called the ongoing protests “a legal reform movement” and vowed to bring to justice those involved in attacks on demonstrators.

Several rights groups have recently accused Iraqi security forces of using excessive force in quelling the protests.
Amnesty International has urged Iraqi authorities to rein in security forces, saying at least six protesters were killed on Saturday in central Baghdad. 
“There have now been at least 264 protester deaths across the country in little over a month. This is turning into nothing short of a bloodbath,” Heba Morayef, the watchdog's Middle East and North Africa director, said in a statement released late Saturday.
“Baghdad and Basra [a southern province] have seen yet more bloody days of excessive force meted out against protesters. Iraqi authorities must immediately order an end to this relentless, unlawful use of lethal force,” Morayef said.

The rights group, citing doctors, said four of the protesters killed in central Baghdad on Saturday had been shot dead with live ammunition while two others died of injuries resulting from tear gas grenades striking their heads.
“This bloodbath must stop now, and those responsible for it must be brought to justice,” Morayef added. 
The protests are the country's largest since December 2017, when Iraq declared the liberation of all territory previously under the control of Islamic State militants.


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Iraq

Iraqi leaders pledge reforms as protest deaths hits 319

Iraqi medical students wave the national flag as they take part in anti-government protests in the southern city of Basra. Photo: AFP

Iraqi protesters burn tyres in al-Khalani square in central Baghdad on November 10, 2019, during an anti-government sit-in. - Iraqi protesters struggled to keep up their anti-government sit-ins Sunday following a deadly crackdown by security forces that Amnesty International warned could turn into a "bloodbath". (Photo by SABAH ARAR / AFP)

(FILES) In this file photo taken on October 23, 2019, Iraq's Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi speaks during a symbolic funeral ceremony in Baghdad for a commander of the Iraqi Federal Police's Fourth Division, who was killed in Samarra, north of the Iraqi capital. - As anti-government protests sweep his country since the begining of October 2019, Iraq's embattled premier has found his decision-making powers clipped by rivals and his entourage subject to increasing pressure from Iran, Iraqi officials told AFP. Adel Abdel Mahdi, 77, came to power last year as the product of a tenuous alliance between populist cleric Moqtada Sadr and pro-Iran paramilitary chief Hadi al-Ameri, with the required blessing of the country's top Shiite religious authority. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP)

Demonstrators run as they clash with members of Iraqi security forces during the ongoing anti-government protests in Baghdad, Iraq November 10, 2019. REUTERS/Alaa al-Marjani

A protester uses a slingshot to fire a stone at security forces, in downtown Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2019. On Sunday, Amnesty International called on Iraqi authorities to immediately rein in security forces after at least six protesters were killed in central Baghdad amid a widening security crackdown. The deaths, including five by live ammunition, occurred Saturday during a police operation to clear demonstrations from several bridges and streets near Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the protests. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

Four protesters killed and more than 100 wounded as Iraq security forces use live rounds against crowds

Demonstrators carry a wounded man during the ongoing anti-government protests in Baghdad. Photo: Reuters

Demonstrators run during the ongoing anti-government protests in Baghdad, Iraq November 9, 2019. REUTERS/Alaa al-Marjani

Members of Iraqi security forces are seen during the ongoing anti-government protests in Basra, Iraq November 9, 2019. REUTERS/Essam al-Sudani

Iraqi protesters attack Iran consulate in Karbala. How will Tehran respond?

Iraqi anti-government protesters burn the Iranian flag during a demonstration in Baghdad. Photo: AFP

An Iraqi demonstrator uses a sling shot during the ongoing anti-government protests in Baghdad, Iraq November 3, 2019. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah

Iraqi demonstrators use lasers during the ongoing anti-government protests in Baghdad, Iraq November 3, 2019. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Iraqi prime minister  appeals for calm amid continued widespread protests, as demonstrators block major roads

Iraq's Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi. Photo: AFP

TOPSHOT - Iraqi students pose for selfies with a member of the security forces during ongoing anti-government protests in the central city of Diwaniyah on October 31, 2019. - Iraq's leaders scrambled to produce a solution to mounting protests demanding the ouster of Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi that have so far left more than 250 dead. Demonstrations first erupted on October 1 over corruption and unemployment and have since ballooned, with protesters now insisting on a government overhaul. (Photo by Haidar HAMDANI / AFP)

Iraqis take part in ongoing anti-government protests in the central city of Karabala on October 31, 2019. - Iraq's leaders scrambled to produce a solution to mounting protests demanding the ouster of Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi that have so far left more than 250 dead. Demonstrations first erupted on October 1 over corruption and unemployment and have since ballooned, with protesters now insisting on a government overhaul. (Photo by Mohammed SAWAF / AFP)

Iraq using ‘skull-piercing’ tear gas grenades to kill rather than disperse protesters, Amnesty International says

A man holds used tear gas canisters during an anti-government demonstration in Baghdad on Wednesday. Photo: dpa

Anti-government protesters gather in Tahrir Square during ongoing protests in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2019. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

Iraq's President Barham Salih delivers a televised speech to people in Baghdad, Iraq October 31, 2019. The Presidency of the Republic of Iraq Office/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY.

Tear gas is fired during clashes between anti-government protesters and Iraqi security forces near Tahrir Square in Baghdad on Thursday. Photo: dpa

Iraq’s new ‘PUBG generation’ of protesters take to the streets as military responds with overnight curfew

Iraqi medical students take part in an anti-government demonstration in the central holy shrine city of Najaf on Monday. Photo: AFP

An anti-government protester prepares to throw a tear gas canister fired by Iraq security forces during a demonstration, in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Oct. 28, 2019. Protests have resumed in Iraq after a wave of demonstrations earlier this month were violently put down. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

An anti-government protester prepares to throw a tear gas canister fired by Iraq security forces to disperse a during a demonstration, in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Oct. 28, 2019. Protests have resumed in Iraq after a wave of demonstrations earlier this month were violently put down. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Iraqi medical students take part in an anti-government demonstration in the central holy shrine city of Najaf on October 28, 2019. - Students and school children flooded the streets of Iraq's capital and its south today, defying government orders and even their parents to join escalating calls for the government's resignation. (Photo by - / AFP)

Universities students hold the Iraqi flag as they take part in a protest over corruption, lack of jobs, and poor services, in Kerbala, Iraq October 28, 2019. REUTERS/Abdullah Dhiaa al-Deeen TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Students take part in anti-government protests in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Oct. 28, 2019. Protests have resumed in Iraq after a wave of demonstrations earlier this month were violently put down. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Iraqi medical students take part in an anti-government demonstration in the Shiite shrine city of Karbala, south of Iraq's capital Baghdad on October 28, 2019. - Baghdad and the country's south have been rocked by a second wave of demonstrations since Thursday, with protesters digging in despite tear gas, curfews and violence that has left more than 70 dead. (Photo by - / AFP)

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The country’s president, prime minister and parliament head vowed in a joint statement to combat corruption and work towards electoral reform
The ongoing protests are Iraq’s largest since it declared the liberation of all territory previously under the control of Islamic State in 2017



The country’s president, prime minister and parliament head vowed in a joint statement to combat corruption and work towards electoral reform.


Human rights

Iraqi leaders pledge reforms as protest deaths hits 319

The country’s president, prime minister and parliament head vowed in a joint statement to combat corruption and work towards electoral reform The ongoing protests are Iraq’s largest since it declared the liberation of all territory previously under the control of Islamic State in 2017

The country’s president, prime minister and parliament head vowed in a joint statement to combat corruption and work towards electoral reform

The ongoing protests are Iraq’s largest since it declared the liberation of all territory previously under the control of Islamic State in 2017