Iraqi Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr gave his supporters an hour to withdraw from the Green Zone in Baghdad where clashes have taken place. Sadr's loyalists are now leaving the area.

“I apologize to the Iraqi people, who are the only ones affected by the events,” the Shiite leader said in a statement on Tuesday.

In a press conference held at his base in the central Iraqi city of Najaf, Sadr gave his supporters "60 minutes" to withdraw from the Green Zone in Baghdad. He threatened to ostracize his followers if they rejected doing so.

After Sadr’s call, his supporters began to withdraw from the Green Zone.

In the wake of the Shiite leader's announcement on Monday that he would completely withdraw from political life, his supporters entered the Green Zone and occupied the Presidential Palace.

23 pro-Sadr protestors lost their lives in Baghdad during the clashes with the rival Hashd al-Shaabi group.

On Tuesday morning, clashes resumed between Sadr's militia, known as the Peace Brigades, and the Hashd al-Shaabi and the Iraqi army.