Followers of the Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr set up a tent city to blockade Parliament, paralyzing any progress toward forming a new government.
With some indication that the killings of four men in Albuquerque may have had sectarian motives, some American Sunnis are calling for solidarity with Shiites.
Unable to form a government 10 months after elections, Iraq has been roiled by the street protests of the nationalist cleric Moktada al-Sadr, who withdrew from the government but again seeks to influence it.