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Iraqi politicians scramble for agreement
on constitution with deadline near
15.8.2005
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BAGHDAD (AP) -
With just hours remaining before parliament was
scheduled to approve the country's new constitution,
Iraqi leaders rushed Monday to reach compromises
with Sunni Arab legislators on several divisive
issues, hoping to salvage the charter that many hope
will help bring insurgents into the political
process.
As a 6 p.m. deadline loomed, a meeting took place
between Shiite and Kurdish leaders, including Prime
Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Kurdish leaders Jalal
Talabani and Massoud Barzani and Shiite cleric
Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, said Khaled al-Attiyah, a
Shiite member of the constitutional committee.
A meeting with leaders from all the main parties,
including Sunni Arabs, was planned later in the day,
but Shiite leaders again broached the idea of
extending the constitutional deadline.
"We hope that an agreement will be reached but if
this does not happen we will ask for an extension
until Sept. 1, or mid-September," al-Attiyah said,
adding that there was a 10 per cent chance that a
delay would be necessary.
An extension would require approval of two-thirds of
parliament and the president and his two deputies.
U.S. officials have pressured Iraqis to stick to
Monday's deadline.
Sunni Arabs pressed for the divisive issue of
federalism to be put off until next year so the
draft can be completed on time, warning they would
not accept provisions for federated states.
Shiites and Kurds, the two other major groups in the
country, are pushing for autonomous regions in the
southern and northern parts of Iraq, but Sunnis fear
the proposal could split Iraq.
American officials applied pressure to resolve
differences on that and other issues before Monday's
deadline.
"The Iraqis tell me that they can finish it and they
will finish it tomorrow," U.S. Ambassador Zalmay
Khalilzad said Sunday in a televised interview.
Khalilzad said that "a lot of American blood and
American treasure has been spent here" - a point
that he had made "abundantly clear to my Iraqi
interlocutors."
The U.S. military said Sunday that five soldiers had
been killed in roadside bombings, and at least 11
Iraqis were killed in scattered violence across the
country. A grave with 30 bodies was also found
Sunday by Iraqi commandos in southern Baghdad.
Violence also continued during Monday's
negotiations. One Iraqi soldier was killed and
another injured in an insurgent ambush in west
Baghdad, police Capt. Talib Thamir said.
In Khalis, 80 kilometres north of Baghdad, gunmen
killed three people in separate shootings, including
a municipal council member and his driver, police
said. Four others were wounded.
In the nearby town of Buhriz, gunmen killed three
Iraqi soldiers and wounded three others at a
checkpoint late Sunday, police said. In Khanaqin,
near the Iranian border, a roadside bomb killed one
civilian on Sunday, police said.
In Baqouba, 60 kilometres northeast of Baghdad, the
body of a government food program worker was found,
police said.
Some politicians said the draft could be presented
to the Shiite-and Kurdish-led parliament Monday over
Sunni Arab objections. But that would further
alienate that disaffected minority, undercutting the
U.S. goal of using the political process to take the
steam out of the Sunni-dominated insurgency.
"It looks like all the agreements are being made
only by the Kurds and the Shiites without even
asking our opinion," Sunni Arab official Saleh al-Mutlaq
said Sunday. "I believe the draft is going to be
presented tomorrow even if it is not finished, with
or without our approval."
Al-Mutlaq said there also was no agreement on 17
other issues, including the distribution of oil
wealth. Another Sunni official voiced objections
over a Shiite-Kurdish deal to grant special status
to the clerical hierarchy of Iraq's Shiite Muslim
majority.
During a meeting Sunday with Kurdish leaders, Sunni
Arab politicians requested that federalism be left
out of the constitution until a new parliament is
elected. Kurds have rejected such proposals in the
past.
Sunni politician Kamal Hamdoun said other charter
provisions that his group objected to were
recognition of the Kurdish language, dual
citizenship and the role of the Shiite religious
leadership.
"If there are points that we do not agree on, we
will not sign any draft," Hamdoun said, adding that
he didn't think Shiites and Kurds would push through
a charter "if they are serious about the unanimity
with us."
Since Shiites and Kurds have agreed on most
constitutional issues, Kurdish legislator Mahmoud
Othman said the drafting committee would present the
draft to parliament Monday even if the Sunni Arabs
objected.
Parliament could approve the draft by a simple
majority, and the Shiites and Kurds together hold
221 of the 275 seats. However, that risks a Sunni
backlash that could scuttle the constitution when it
is put before voters in an Oct. 15 referendum.
If two-thirds of the voters in at least three of the
18 provinces vote "no," the charter would be
defeated and Sunnis form a majority in at least four
provinces. Sunni clerics are urging followers to
vote against any constitution that could lead to the
breakup of the country.
AP
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