Anyone in Baghdad on Sunday morning could have been forgiven for thinking the country was on the verge of civil war. Three Iraqi Army battalions had surrounded the town of Madaen, just south of Baghdad, where Sunni kidnappers were said to be threatening to kill hundreds of Shiite hostages unless all Shiites left the town. As the National Assembly met, Iraq’s top political figures warned of a sectarian crisis between the majority Shiites and minority Sunnis.Full Story