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BAGHDAD, Aug 22 (AFP) - 17h33 - Iraqi Shiite and
Kurdish negotiators on Monday finally agreed a draft
constitution after weeks of tortuous talks and were
to present it to parliament regardless of whether
the minority Sunnis agree, sources said.
"An agreement between the Shiites and the Kurds (the
two main parliamentary blocs) have been
reached...God willing, the draft will be presented
in the parliament today," Shiite negotiator Jawad
al-Maliki told AFP.
He later confirmed the agreement to reporters.
"The agreed upon draft will be presented shortly...
in the national assembly... and it will pass," he
told a quickly organised press conference.
Although the agreement appears to have been thrashed
out over the heads of the Sunnis, the Kurds and
Shiites between them have enough seats in parliament
-- 215 out of 275 -- to have the constitution
approved with a majority.
Iraqi government spokesman Leith Kubba told CNN the
minority Sunni Arabs, who were dominant in power
under the rule of Saddam Hussein, had still not
agreed to the draft.
"The two largest blocs (Shiites and Kurds) have
agreed to a draft. The Sunnis have to agree to it,"
he said.
The Sunnis though could yet torpedo the whole
agreement if their community resoundingly rejects
the constitution when it is submitted to a
referendum in October.
Maliki however said the two groups have managed to
win support from some of the disenchanted Sunni
Arabs in favour of the draft.
"Some Sunni brothers are with us, but some are still
against federalism. We are trying to convince them
too," he said.
It was not immediately clear if the main stumbling
blocks towards agreeing the constitution --
federalism, sharing of oil wealth, and the role of
Islam -- had been resolved or left for discussion at
a later date.
Iraq missed an initial deadline last Monday but
staved off the need for fresh elections by holding a
last-minute parliamentary vote to extend the charter
deadline until midnight on August 22.
Increasing agreement between Shiites and the Kurds
in previous days provoked Sunni Arabs to complain
that a deal was being struck without their consent.
Sunnis oppose a federal structure, fearing that it
could rob them of an equal share in Iraq's lucrative
oil reserves which are mainly concentrated in the
Kurdish north and Shiite south.
Their negotiating position is weak as they hold few
parliamentary seats after largely boycotting
January's elections, but, if sidelined, Sunni voters
could defeat the charter in a scheduled mid-October
referendum.
The United States wants the draft to be finalised
Monday.
Kurdish negotiators have in recent days faced
pressure from US officials to give up demands for
self-determination, oil ownership and insistence on
a secular constitution in a bid to reach agreement
with the Shiites.
Self-determination would have effectively given
their de facto autonomous northern region the chance
to secede from Iraq at a later date. But on Saturday
Kurdish leaders offered to compromise.
But their ambitions to have the oil centre of Kirkuk
included within their territory and to seek a degree
of control over the region's oil reserves might have
proven more difficult to assuage.
Installing Islam as the country's main source of
legislation and allowing clerics a political role,
as demanded by the conservative Shiite bloc, are
also opposed by the Kurdish bloc.
US officials dropped their opposition to please the
Shiites, but the secular Kurds opposed the move,
arguing that it contravened women's rights and
Iraq's secularist traditions.
Meanwhile, crude oil exports from Iraq's southern
oilfields resumed after suspension from midnight
Sunday due to a power failure at one of the pumping
stations.
Rebels killed 24 in separate attacks across the
country, including eight policemen who died north of
Baghdad when their bus was riddled with bullets by
masked gunmen.
AFP
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