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BAGHDAD, Iraq 30.Aug.(AP) - In a dramatic shift,
the U.S. ambassador raised the possibility Tuesday
of further changes to Iraq's draft constitution,
signaling that the Bush administration has not given
up its campaign to push through a charter that will
be broadly accepted.
Also Tuesday, U.S. warplanes struck three suspected
al-Qaida targets near the Syrian border, killing
what the U.S. military called a "known terrorist.''
Iraqi officials said 45 people died, most in
fighting between an Iraqi tribe that supports the
foreign fighters and another that opposes them.
The nation's Sunni Arabs had demanded revisions in
the draft, finalized last weekend by the
Shiite-Kurdish majority over Sunni objections. A
Shiite leader said only minor editing would be
accepted since the draft was now ready for voters in
an Oct. 15 referendum.
But Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad told reporters he
believed "a final, final draft has not yet been, or
the edits have not been, presented yet'' - a strong
hint to Shiites and Kurds that Washington wants
another bid to accommodate the Sunnis.
"That is something that Iraqis will have to talk to
each other (about) and decide for themselves,''
Khalilzad said, speaking alongside a major Sunni
Arab community leader who denounced the current
draft and accused the Shiite-dominated government's
security forces of assassinating Sunnis.
The Bush administration wants a constitution
acceptable to all Iraqi factions to help quell the
Sunni-dominated insurgency so that U.S. and other
foreign troops can begin to go home.
Shiite leaders had no comment on Khalilzad's
remarks. As constitution wrangling drew to a close
last week, Shiite officials complained privately
that the Sunnis were stonewalling and that further
negotiations were pointless.
Influential Shiite lawmaker Khaled al-Attiyah, a
member of the constitution drafting committee,
insisted Tuesday that "no changes are allowed'' to
the draft "except for minor edits for the
language.''
Sunnis objected primarily to federalism, which would
create Kurdish and Shiite mini-states and threaten
Sunni access to oil wealth; purges of former members
of Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated Baath Party from
government; and the description of Iraq as an
Islamic but not Arab state, lumping it together with
Shiite-dominated Iran.
Shiites consider some of the Sunni demands,
especially on the Baath party and federalism, as
matters of principle not subject to compromise.
"From a legal point of view, no change can be made
to the draft,'' Shiite negotiator Hussein Athab
said. "If (Khalilzad) means legal change, then this
is not allowed. If he means political change, I
don't know what he means.''
But signs were clear that Washington did not feel
constrained by legalities and was ready to pressure
the Shiites after more than two years of deferring
to the Shiite clergy on key steps in Iraq's
transition - moves that helped drive apart the
Sunnis and the Americans.
Before addressing reporters, Khalilzad warmly
introduced Sunni community leader Adnan al-Dulaimi
and then stood by as he accused security forces of
the Shiite-led Interior Ministry of murdering
Sunnis. Al-Dulaimi demanded the resignation of
Iraq's interior minister, a member of the biggest
Shiite party.
Both Shiites and Sunnis have accused one another of
reprisal killings. The Interior Ministry has denied
targeting Sunnis.
Sunni Arabs form an estimated 20 percent of the
population. They could still scuttle the charter
because of a rule that states that if two-thirds of
the voters in any three provinces reject the draft,
it would be defeated.
Sunnis form the majority in four provinces but their
numbers are not so great that they could ensure a
two-thirds margin. If voters reject the charter,
elections must be held for a new parliament and a
new constitution drafted.
Even if the Sunnis lose the referendum, a bitter
political battle at a time when the Sunni-led
insurgency shows no sign of abating could plunge the
country into a full-scale sectarian conflict.
The U.S. airstrikes, which included 500-pound GBU-12
guided bombs, began about 6:20 a.m. in a cluster of
towns near Qaim along the Syrian border 200 miles
northwest of Baghdad, a U.S. statement said.
It made no mention of tribal fighting but said four
bombs were used to destroy a house occupied by
"terrorists'' outside the town of Husaybah. Two more
bombs destroyed a second house in Husaybah, occupied
by Abu Islam, described as "a known terrorist,'' the
statement added.
"Islam and several other suspected terrorists were
killed in that attack,'' the statement said. Several
of Islam's associates fled his house in Husaybah for
the nearby town of Karabilah, the statement said,
citing intelligence reports.
"Around 8:30 a.m., a strike was conducted on the
house in Karabilah using two precision-guided
bombs,'' the statement said. "Several terrorists
were killed in the strike but exact numbers are not
known.''
Iraqi officials said most of the 45 dead were from
the pro-government Bumahl tribe and the
pro-insurgent Karabilah tribe, which have clashed
before. The Shiite Supreme Council for the Islamic
Revolution in Iraq condemned attacks by foreign
fighters against "our beloved people'' and urged the
government to "stop criminals and terrorists from
crossing into Iraq.''
AP
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