Baghdad ? Iraq’s prime minister declared Thursday that national reconciliation was moving forward despite the embarrassing collapse of a deal to hold provincial elections and a warning of possible escalating Shiite feuds over the failure.

It was a day of charged rhetoric – heightened by a flurry of political drama.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who is part of the nation’s Shiite majority, spoke from one of the sect’s holiest sites – the shrine of Imam Hussein, 50 miles south of Baghdad. The city is the centerpiece of Arbaeen, a commemoration that marks the end of the mourning period that follows the anniversary of Hussein’s martyrdom in the seventh century. The holiday wound up Thursday.

A big, supportive crowd greeted al-Maliki. Some waved Iraqi flags as he gave a soaring assessment of national affairs in this war-weary country – tempered with an appeal to Shiites to continue participating in the political process.