|
BAGHDAD, Aug 27 (AFP) - 21h21 - Iraq's Sunni
Arab former elite presented fresh demands on the
wording of a new constitution Saturday despite
warnings from Shiite and Kurdish negotiators that
they would make no further concessions.
The Sunnis demanded that all reference to autonomous
regions other than the Kurdish north be deleted from
the text and that a bigger role for Islam be
enshrined in the charter.
The speaker of parliament had already warned that a
draft presented by the Kurds and Shiites the
previous evening was a "final offer" after weeks of
tortuous negotiation and that a vote would be held
on the text on Sunday regardless of the Sunnis'
position.
The written proposal from the Sunnis, which was seen
by AFP, demanded omission of any reference in the
constitution to autonomous regions other than the
Kurdish north, much of which has enjoyed autonomous
status since 1970.
"We want a capital (Baghdad) and one autonomous
region only, in addition to provinces enjoying
delegated powers," the proposal said, rejecting
calls from many Shiites for their own autonomous
region in Shiite-majority areas of the south and
centre.
The Sunnis also demanded that the Kurdish language
be given official status in the Kurdish region only
and that the whole of Iraq be referred to as part of
the Arab world.
In deference to Kurdish sensitivities, the current
text says that Iraq is part of the Islamic world but
that only its Arab people are part of the Arab
nation.
The five Sunni ministers in Iraq's interim governing
coalition expressed similar reservations later
Saturday, calling for the Arab identity of Iraq to
be preserved as Arabs formed 80 percent of the
population.
The Sunnis also demanded that Islam be enshrined in
the constitution as "the main source of legislation"
not "a main source" as at present, a Sunni
negotiator said.
The new demands came despite the US military freeing
some 1,000 mainly Sunni prisoners from its infamous
detention facility at Abu Ghraib in what was widely
seen as a sop to the disenchanted minority.
The US military said that the prisoners had been
freed in batches over the past three days and that
none were suspected of serious acts of violence.
"The release is an attempt to open a door to bargain
with the Sunni Arabs over constitution
negotiations," said Munther al-Fadhal, a
Kurdish-allied MP.
Washington has been desperate to get the minority
community on board on the draft constitution ahead
of a referendum scheduled for October in a bid to
take some of the heat out of the insurgency raging
in Sunni areas.
President George W. Bush intervened personally in
the negotiations this week, calling Shiite leader
Abdul Aziz al-Hakim from his Texas ranch to ask him
to do more to assuage the Sunnis.
But parliament speaker Hajim al-Hasani told AFP that
the text presented by the Kurds and Shiites on
Friday was "final and parliament will vote on it
tomorrow (Sunday)... even if the Sunnis do not
accept it."
Between them the Kurds and Shiites hold some 210
seats in the 275-member parliament against just a
couple of dozen for the Sunnis, who largely
boycotted January elections -- comfortably enough to
push through the text.
But the rules for October's referendum specify that
two-thirds of the voters in any three provinces can
vote down the charter and at least three are
predominantly Sunni.
Hasani said the Shiites and Kurds had made some
concessions in their final offer, particularly on
plans for a Shiite autonomous region.
"The draft constitution gives the right to establish
federalism, but leaves the mechanism to form federal
regions for the next elected parliament," he said
referring to new polls due to be held by
mid-December.
The US president defended the slow pace of the
charter negotiations in his weekly radio address
Saturday, comparing it favourably to the time taken
to draft the US constitution.
Iraqi leaders were "making the tough choices and
compromises necessary for a free and peaceful
future," Bush said.
"Like our own nation's founders over two centuries
ago, the Iraqis are grappling with difficult issues,
such as the role of the federal government. What is
important is that Iraqis are now addressing these
issues through debate and discussion -- not at the
barrel of a gun."
In violence on the ground, rebels killed five people
around Iraq, including an Egyptian football coach
and a local television director gunned down at a
football match in the restive city of Baquba,
security sources said.
The US military said it had also killed a Saudi
national on Friday who was suspected of
masterminding suicide attacks in northern Iraq.
AFP
Top |
® 