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BAGHDAD, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Islam will be "the
main source" of Iraq's law and parliament will
observe religious principles, negotiators said on
Saturday after what some called a major turn in
talks on the constitution and a shift in the U.S.
position.
If agreed by Monday's parliamentary deadline, it
would appear to be a major concession to Islamist
leaders from the Shi'ite Muslim majority and sit
uneasily with U.S. insistence on the primacy of
democracy and human rights in the new Iraq.
U.S. diplomats, who have been shepherding the
process closely, declined immediate comment and at
least one secular Kurdish politician said Kurds
would try to block such a deal.
But an official from one of the main Shi'ite
Islamist parties and a leading Sunni Arab negotiator
said agreement had been reached, reversing an
understanding reached earlier in the recent talks
that Islam would simply be "a main source" of law.
Parliament would not be able to pass legislation
that contradicted the principles of Islam, several
negotiators told Reuters. One Shi'ite official said
that a constitutional court would decide whether
laws conformed to Islamic faith.
But Sunni negotiator Saleh al-Mutlak said that, at
the insistence of U.S. ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad,
the constitution would also contain language stating
that the "principles of democracy" would be
respected.
Khalilzad, who said this month there would be "no
compromise" on equal rights for women and
minorities, helped draft a constitution in his
native Afghanistan which declared it an "Islamic
Republic" in which no law could contradict Muslim
principles.
It also, however, contained language establishing
equal rights for women and protecting religious
minorities.
Other Arab states, including secularly ruled Egypt,
have similar phrasing in their constitutions,
alloting a special role for Islam in the law.
Reuters
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