BAGHDAD — Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is tightening his hold on power in response to the catastrophe unfolding in Iraq, even as his critics blame his policies for causing the mayhem that is tearing the country apart.
Reinforced by a call to arms from the country’s top Shiite cleric and by promises of support from Iran, Maliki has set about rallying the country’s Shiite majority behind his leadership as Sunni extremists bear down on Baghdad.
Negotiations on the formation of a new government have been suspended, and instead, Shiite factions who had sought to prevent Maliki from securing a third term in office by aligning with Sunni and Kurdish politicians have thrown their support behind him.
The streets of Baghdad now teem with armed Shiite men, whose response to the clergy’s summoning of fighters has further shored up Maliki’s position.
Sunnis shuddered Tuesday at the news that the body of a Sunni imam and two of his assistants had been discovered in Baghdad’s morgue, four days after they were detained by men wearing government uniforms.
The episode echoed the sectarian bloodletting that raged in the middle of the last decade, and it reinforced fears that a new round of killings could be imminent.
Officials close to Maliki acknowledge that his exclusionary politics and failure to reach out to Sunnis may have contributed to the ease with which predominantly Sunni parts of the country have fallen under the control of al-Qaeda-linked extremists over the past week.
But with the insurgents pressing south with their offensive in the direction of the capital, “this is not a good time to solve these problems,” said Maliki’s spokesman, Ali al-Musawi.
“No one is discussing the third term now,” he said. “What we are discussing now is how to regain those cities and confront this attack.”
There is also no discussion, he said, of Maliki offering the kinds of concessions the Obama administration says it is seeking before offering more military assistance to drive back the insurgents.
In an apparent nod to U.S. pressure, Maliki attended a meeting Tuesday night alongside leading Shiite figures — including some who had sought his ouster — and several Sunni leaders in what was intended as a display of national unity.
Baghdad has remained relatively calm amid a rampage in the north by al-Qaeda-inspired militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria — known as ISIL.
“There is a real risk of further sectarian violence on a massive scale,” U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned Tuesday.
