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Iraq’s Sunni Arabs will
have 15 seats on constitution drafting committee, 10
other seats as consultants.
BAGHDAD - A deal was reached Thursday on the
participation of the Sunni Arabs who largely
boycotted January's election in a panel to draft the
Iraqi constitution, deputies and Sunni leaders said.
"We have agreed with our brothers from the Shiite
United Iraqi Alliance and the Kurdish alliance in
the presence of Adnan al-Janabi, the coordinator for
the Sunni Arabs, that Sunni Arabs will have 15 seats
on the constitution drafting committee and 10 other
seats as consultants," said Abdul Rahman Munshid al-Asi,
a Sunni Arab who took part in the talks.
Sunni Arabs only had two seats on the 55-member
committee but the Shiites and Kurds dominant in
parliament have been looking to bring in more
figures from the disenchanted community.
There had been disagreement on the size, nature and
conditions of the Sunni participation.
A Shiite member of the committee, MP Jawad al-Maliky,
confirmed the deal. "This solution was a compromise
after Sunni Arabs were adamant about having 25
members in the committee," said Maliky.
"The consultants will not have a big role."
President Jalal Talabani, a Sunni Kurd, last week
backed the Sunni Arab demands for 25 seats and said
a deal on their participation was being finalised.
But Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari and Shiite
members of the committee said it was unrealistic to
give Sunni Arabs more than 15 seats since it would
distort the ethnic and sectarian balance of the
panel.
Another Sunni Arab who took part in Thursday's talks
said it was now up to the Sunnis to name their
committee members and consultants, adding an
agreement was reached that the constitutional panel
would make its decisions by consensus and not vote.
"So this means the number of seats does not matter
that much after all," said Saleh al-Mutlaq of the
National Dialogue Council.
But it remains to be seen whether the deal would be
accepted by the splintered Sunni Arab community
which once dominated Iraq under Saddam Hussein's
ousted regime and now fuels the insurgency against
the government and foreign troop presence.
Mutlaq gave a taste of the Sunni position.
"We know the drafting of the constitution is moving
in a direction that does not benefit Iraq or Sunnis,
but nonetheless we are hoping to change something or
do something with our presence," he said.
"The constitution is moving towards federalism and
we are against it."
Kurds, who play a pivotal role in parliament and the
coalition transitional government, are pushing hard
for a federal system that would bring the northern
oil-rich city of Kirkuk into their autonomous
region.
This has angered the Sunni Arabs and minority
Turkmen.
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