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BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A day before the deadline
for the new constitution, Sunni Arabs appealed
Sunday to the United States to prevent Shiites and
Kurds from pushing a draft through parliament
without their consent, warning it would only worsen
the crisis in Iraq.
Leaders of the Sunni Arab, Shiite and Kurdish
factions planned final talks on Monday morning
according to officials of all three groups. "I am
not optimistic,'' said Kamal Hamdoun, a negotiator
for the influential Sunni minority. "We either reach
unanimity or not.''
Iraqi officials have insisted they would meet the
new deadline and present a final document to the
National Assembly, dominated by Shiites and Kurds.
But the chief government spokesman suggested another
delay may be necessary.
Saddam Hussein, who faces trial soon on charges he
massacred fellow Muslims, promised in a letter
published Sunday to sacrifice himself for the cause
of Palestine and Iraq, and he urged Arabs to follow
his path.
The letter, which was delivered by the International
Committee of the Red Cross to a friend of Saddam's
now living in Jordan, was believed to be the first
letter the ousted leader has sent to a non-family
member since his capture by U.S. forces in December
2003.
"My soul and my existence is to be sacrificed for
our precious Palestine and our beloved, patient and
suffering Iraq,'' said the letter, published in two
Jordanian newspapers.
In violence Sunday, an American soldier was killed
by a roadside bomb near the northern city of Tikrit,
the U.S. military said. At least 1,866 members of
the U.S. military have died since the Iraq war
started in March 2003, according to an Associated
Press count.
A Sunni Arab backlash could complicate the U.S.
strategy of using the political process to lure
members of the minority away from the
Sunni-dominated insurgency. Washington hopes that a
constitution, followed by general elections in
December, will enable the United States and its
international partners to begin removing troops next
year.
The deadline for a new constitution was extended by
a week last Monday after negotiators failed to agree
on contentious issues including federalism,
distribution of Iraq's oil wealth, power sharing
questions among the provinces and the role of the
Shiite clerical hierarchy.
Vice President Adil Abdul-Mahdi, a Shiite, said 97
percent of the draft had been finished and predicted
the document would be forwarded to parliament on
time Monday.
Government spokesman Laith Kubba said there were two
options if political leaders fail to complete the
draft: amend the interim constitution again and
extend the deadline, or dissolve parliament.
But the Sunni Arabs complained that they have been
invited to only one session with the other groups
since the extension was granted.
As of late Sunday, Sunni Arab negotiators said they
were sticking by their opposition to federalism and
other demands.
"At a time when there are few hours left to announce
the draft, we still see no active coordination and
seriousness to draft the constitution,'' the Sunni
Arab negotiators said in a statement.
They urged the United States, the United Nations and
the international community to intervene to prevent
a draft that lacks unanimous agreement among all
three factions, saying it "would make the current
crisis more complicated.''
Shiites and Kurds have enough seats in parliament to
win approval for a draft without the Sunni Arabs,
who form an estimated 20 percent of Iraq's
population of 27 million but hold only 17 of the 275
seats in the National Assembly because so many of
them boycotted the Jan. 30 elections.
However, the minority could scuttle the constitution
when voters decide whether to ratify it in the Oct.
15 referendum. Under current rules, the constitution
would be defeated if it is opposed by two-thirds of
the voters in three of Iraq's 18 provinces. Sunni
Arabs form the majority in at least four.
Some radical groups within the insurgency, notably
al-Qaida's wing led by the Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi,
oppose any constitution as an affront to Islam and
have vowed to kill anyone who votes in the
referendum. Sunni clerics, however, have urged their
followers to register to vote.
Also Sunday, the Iraqi government said neighboring
Jordan has allowed Saddam's family to fund a network
seeking to destabilize Iraq and re-establish the
banned Baath Party.
Kubba, speaking to reporters in Baghdad, cited
Saddam's relatives who live in Jordan, where they
have "huge amounts of money'' to "support ...
efforts to revive Baath Party organizations.'' Kubba
did not specify individual family members, but
Saddam's two oldest daughters live in the Jordanian
capital, Amman.
Although the Iraqis frequently have complained of
subversive activity generated from Syria, Kubba's
remarks were the strongest yet directed against
pro-Western Jordan. Tens of thousands of Iraqis have
moved to Amman to escape the violence in Iraq.
During an interview later Sunday on CNN's "Late
Edition,'' Kubba said Iraq wanted good relations
with Jordan.
But he said there were former members of Saddam's
regime using Jordan as a base.
"And they have launched a campaign, they are calling
back members of the Baath Party to organize meetings
and to develop a strategy, and influencing events in
Iraq,'' he added.
Kubba's statements were apparently aimed in part at
deflecting criticism from Amman about the possible
involvement of Iraqis in subversive operations in
Jordan.
Jordanian police have detained an undetermined
number of Iraqis and other foreign Arab suspects in
the Friday rocket attack that barely missed a U.S.
warship docked in Aqaba.
"We don't want Jordan to harm a quarter of a million
Iraqis (living in Jordan) because of one Iraqi''
involved in Friday's attack, which killed a
Jordanian soldier, Kubba said.
The Jordanian government, which has been seeking to
improve relations with its eastern neighbor - once
its closest trading partner and only supplier of oil
- had no immediate comment.
AP
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