BAGHDAD: Thousands of Iraqis gathered on Thursday in the capital Baghdad and in the country's south on the first anniversary of the start of unprecedented protests demanding the fall of the ruling class. The protests, which were sparked in October last year and lasted months before running out of steam, will be revived, demonstrators said, if no reform is carried out by the current government.

The mass demonstrations across southern Iraq demanded youth employment, functioning public services and the guarantee of transparent elections, in a country beleaguered by corruption and caught in the crossfire of a tug-of-war for influence between Washington and Tehran.

One year, and nearly 600 deaths later, after the worst social crisis in Iraq's recent history, the mood in the country is very different. Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi, who was appointed in May, has praised the very demonstrations that pushed out the previous government.

State television broadcast on Thursday clips showing photos of the "martyrs" accompanied by the national anthem played on electric guitar. But in Tahrir Square, epicentre of Baghdad protests, and in the southern city of Diwaniya, protesters rejected the outstretched hand of the government and various parties, which are preparing for elections scheduled for June.