BAGHDAD - Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, issued a statement on Friday calling on Iraq's diverse political parties to move quickly to form a government. He also again clarified that his call for volunteers to defend Iraq against extremist jihadis was not meant as a call to arms for Shiites, but for all Iraqis.
The statement, issued at Friday Prayer in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, was conveyed by Ahmed al-Safi, a leading Shiite cleric and the Sistani representative there.
Mr. Safi said that all political blocs should stick to the timing required in the Constitution to convene a new Parliament by July 2. In the past, government formations have often taken much longer. 'The winning bloc should hold dialogue in order to form an effective government that enjoys wide national acceptance to correct the past mistakes and open new horizons for Iraqis for a better future,' Mr. Safi said.
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The statement echoed the language used by opponents of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, calling for him to form a government that is accepted by Sunnis and Kurds. It was interpreted by some as an implicit criticism of Mr. Maliki's government, but was no more strongly worded than previous statements from Ayatollah Sistani's representatives.
Only the day before, President Obama called for Iraqis to form an inclusive government, and suggested, indirectly, that Mr. Maliki might not be the best person to do that. While Mr. Maliki was the biggest vote-getter in the April 30 elections, his 92 seats in Parliament fall far short of the 165-seat majority needed for him to claim a third term as prime minister, although the next largest vote-getter controls only 33 seats.
Many of Mr. Maliki's political opponents, including some former allies, have called on him to step aside in favor of a candidate who could gain more support from all factions, and some have said that American diplomats have begun urging a replacement for Mr. Maliki as well.
Key Sunni majority Shiite majority Christian majority Mixed areas
2003: Before the Invasion
Before the American invasion, Baghdad's major sectarian groups lived mostly side by side in mixed neighborhoods. The city's Shiite and Sunni populations were roughly equal, according to Juan Cole, a University of Michigan professor and Middle East expert.
2009: Violence Fuels Segregation
Sectarian violence exploded in 2006. Families living in areas where another sect was predominant were threatened with violence if they did not move. By 2009 Shiites were a majority, with Sunnis reduced to about 10 percent to 15 percent of the population.
* Kadhimiya, a historically Shiite neighborhood, is home to a sacred Shiite shrine.
* Adhamiya, a historically Sunni neighborhood, contains the Abu Hanifa Mosque, a Sunni landmark.
* The Green Zone became the heavily fortified center of American operations during the occupation.
* Sadr City was the center of the insurgent Mahdi Army, led by the Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr.
* Huriya was transformed in 2006 when the Mahdi Army pushed out hundreds of families in a brutal spasm of sectarian cleansing.
* More than 8,000 displaced families relocated to Amiriya, the neighborhood where the Sunni Awakening began in Baghdad.
* Adhamiya, a Sunni island in Shiite east Baghdad, was walled and restricted along with other neighborhoods in 2007 for security.
* Neighborhoods east of the Tigris River are generally more densely populated than areas to the west.
2003: Before the Invasion
Before the American invasion, Baghdad's major sectarian groups lived mostly side by side in mixed neighborhoods. The city's Shiite and Sunni populations were roughly equal, according to Juan Cole, a University of Michigan professor and Middle East expert.
* Kadhimiya, a historically Shiite neighborhood, is home to a sacred Shiite shrine.
* Adhamiya, a historically Sunni neighborhood, contains the Abu Hanifa Mosque, a Sunni landmark.
* The Green Zone became the heavily fortified center of American operations during the occupation.
* Sadr City was the center of the insurgent Mahdi Army, led by the Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr.
2009: Violence Fuels Segregation
Sectarian violence exploded in 2006. Families living in areas where another sect was predominant were threatened with violence if they did not move. By 2009 Shiites were a majority, with Sunnis reduced to about 10 percent to 15 percent of the population.
* Huriya was transformed in 2006 when the Mahdi Army pushed out hundreds of families in a brutal spasm of sectarian cleansing.
* More than 8,000 displaced families relocated to Amiriya, the neighborhood where the Sunni Awakening began in Baghdad.
* Adhamiya, a Sunni island in Shiite east Baghdad, was walled and restricted along with other neighborhoods in 2007 for security.
* Neighborhoods east of the Tigris River are generally more densely populated than areas to the west.
Source: Michael Izady, Columbia University's Gulf 2000 project
Source: Satellite image by NASA
Sources: Institute for the Study of War; Long War Journal
Sources: Global Terrorism Database, National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (attack data); Congressional Research Service; Council on Foreign Relations; Long War Journal; Institute for the Study of War
Source: 'The Islamic State in Iraq Returns to Diyala' by Jessica Lewis, Institute for the Study of War
Source: Michael Izady, Columbia University's Gulf 2000 project
Safin Hamed/Agence France-Presse - Getty Images
Islamic insurgents have swept through much of northern Iraq in the past eight days, aided in large part by disaffected Sunnis in territory they took over.
Mr. Safi again clarified that Mr. Sistani's call last Friday for volunteers to defend the government was not a sectarian appeal for Shiites to join militias, as it has been widely interpreted.
'The invitation was for all Iraqis not for one sect and the goal was to be ready and prepared to face the Takfiri group which is called ISIS, which now has the upper hand and the strongest situation in several provinces,' he said, using a disparaging term that means apostate.
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