|
BAGHDAD, Aug 22 (AFP) - 15h28 - Iraqi Shiites
and Kurds, who enjoy a comfortable majority in the
parliament, have agreed on a draft constitution,
government spokesman Leith Kubba said Monday.
"The two largest blocs (Shiites and Kurds) have
agreed to a draft," Kubba told CNN television ahead
of a midnight deadline for the constitution to be
submitted to parliament.
An agreement between the two groups effectively
means that war-torn Iraq could have its first
post-Saddam Hussein constitution as the two groups
hold about 215 seats in the 275-member Iraqi
parliament.
If the Kurdish and Shiite blocs have reached a deal,
their representatives would be able to use their
majority in parliament to force through a draft
constitution over the heads of Sunni Arabs.
But negotiators involved in the drafting said that
talks were still going on between the two groups.
"There is progress between the two groups but I
would not say whether the two have agreed on a
draft," Kurdish negotiator Mahmud Othman told AFP.
"But an agreement is possible."
Kubba said the minority Sunni Arabs had still not
agreed to the draft.
"The Sunnis have to agree to it," Kubba said.
Kubba said Iraq had three options: prepare a draft
and present it to parliament by midnight Monday,
extend the deadline again, or dissolve the country's
legislative body.
Kubba said he was confident that a draft would be
ready on time, and that dissolving the parliament
was a remote possibility at this stage.
"Nobody expects that this is going to happen. But
most likely there will be a draft. Nobody is going
to be really happy about it but it's a compromise
and it will be left for the nation to have its say
on it," he said.
AFP
Top |
® 