The government of Iraqi prime minister Nuri al-Maliki said in a statement today that Saudi Arabia’s alleged support of ISIS rebels makes the country responsible for “crimes that may qualify as genocide: the spilling of Iraqi blood, the destruction of Iraqi state institutions and historic and religious sites.”
Regardless of the truth of the accusation (the Saudis deny it), as a political move it is 180 degrees away from the collaborative approach currently being urged on Maliki by the United States and Iran. From Reuters:
Washington has made clear it wants Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to embrace Sunni politicians as a condition of U.S. support to fight a lightning advance by forces from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
But the Shi’ite prime minister has moved in the opposite direction, announcing a crackdown on politicians and officers he considers “traitors” and lashing out at neighbouring Sunni countries for stoking militancy.
The New York Times reports, meanwhile, that Maliki’s “top aide in charge of reconciliation” himself rejects the idea of reconciliation:
“Now there’s a war, there’s not reconciliation,” said Amir al-Khuzai, a longtime friend of Mr. Maliki’s.
“With whom do we reconcile?” he said.
Given Maliki’s history of marginalizing Sunnis, which Slate’s Fred Kaplan wrote about last week, such rhetoric seems likely to continue.
