Iraqi politics remain in uproar after the new parliament’s failure to form a government on Wednesday.

With the Sunni enemy seemingly at the gates as manifested by the ISIL fighters Baghdad flails around searching for alliances, but Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki appears to have few friends left.

He has been on television with an offer to the ISIL militants.

“First, they talked about an Islamic State in Iraq and Levant; today they talk about a Caliphate in the region. Iraq and its neighbours are not safe from their projects. We will not submit and undoubtedly they will suffer a severe defeat,” said al-Maliki on television.

The offer to ISIL’s fighters is surrender, and if you have no blood on your hands, no action will be taken against you.

In the meantime the Iraqis and Americans are trying to revive the Iraqi tribal alliances they fought alongside when defeating al-Qaeda in the last decade.

Recruitment is also continuing apace, with queues of Shi’ite volunteers forming to guard their holy places and go off to fight.

Workplaces are organising their own squads, with the biggest companies raising whole batallions of men.