Nouri al-Maliki... Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party....
called on Saturday for the people to stand together against sectarian strife, warning of a return to the days of bloody sectarian war when heads were left in the streets.
Maliki called in a speech in Storied Baghdad
...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate...
for Iraqis to "stand together in one rank in facing this strife."
And the Shiite premier warned of a return to the worst days of the sectarian conflict that swept Iraq from 2006 to 2008.
"Have you forgotten the day we were collecting bodies from the streets? Have you forgotten the day we were collecting severed heads from the streets?" he asked.
Maliki's remarks came two days after security forces jugged
Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages!
at least nine of Sunni Finance Minister Rafa al-Essawi's guards on terror charges, threatening a new crisis with the minister's secular, Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc.
After his guards were arrested, Essawi demanded Maliki's resignation, and also called for no-confidence proceedings that failed to remove the premier earlier this year to be reopened.