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BAGHDAD, Aug 24 (AFP) - 22h06 - Violence erupted
in Iraq on Wednesday as supporters of radical Shiite
cleric Moqtada Sadr clashed with locals in the
southern holy city of Najaf, killing five people, as
efforts to push through war-torn Iraq's constitution
received a boost from the Kurdish parliament.
"Five people were killed, some of them are followers
of Sadr, and seven others were wounded in the
clashes," said Saheb al-Amiri, general secretary of
Shahid Allah (God's Martyr), an organisation linked
to Sadr's movement.
An unknown number of people were earlier reported
wounded in Najaf when traders in the old town, which
houses the revered Imam Ali shrine, demonstrated
against members of Sadr's group who were attempting
to reopen their local office.
The office was closed in 2004 following a bloody
rebellion led by Sadr against US forces.
Following the clashes in Najaf, Sadr's Mehdi militia
took control of Baghdad's Shiite district of Sadr
City as well as three offices of Prime Minister
Ibrahim Jaafari's Dawa party, a source in the
interior ministry said.
He said the Mehdi militia was being deployed in
other Shiite neighbourhoods in Baghdad, the Al-Amel
region to the southeast and in the southern city of
Nasiriyah.
"Iraqi security forces have been told not to
intervene," the official told
Unconfirmed reports also said that a series of
explosions rocked Baghdad's Sadr city.
Interior Minister Bayan Baker Solagh confirmed the
Najaf clashes and said that demonstrators "burnt
down the office of Sadr's group".
"There was a clash between demonstrators... and
defenders of the office," Solagh told the
state-owned Iraqia television.
He said that security forces intervened to end the
clashes.
Sadr had launched two uprisings in 2004 against US
forces from Imam Ali shrine, in which hundreds of
his militants were killed.
The latest round of violence came just a few hours
after at least 35 people were killed in rebel
attacks across central and northern Iraq.
The deadliest strike was in Baghdad when a suicide
car bomber attacked a police patrol in Ghazalia
district sparking a gunbattle between rebels and
security forces. At least 15 people were killed and
59 wounded, security sources said.
Meanwhile, Iraqi Kurdistan's regional parliament
passed the draft constitution saying it was a "big
step" for the Kurds.
"Although the draft is not up to our expectations,
it represents a big step for us in this period,"
speaker Adnan al-Mufti said in his address to the
Kurdish parliament in the northern city of Arbil.
The approval from Iraqi Kurdistan is expected to
pave the way for Iraq's 275-member parliament to
pass the draft Thursday as Kurds and the majority
Shiites together hold about 210 seats in the
national assembly.
In Baghdad Iraqi leaders were busy trying to
persuade the Sunni Arabs to sign up to the draft
constitution, a day before the charter goes to
parliament.
"We should have a consensus between the three groups
-- Shiites, Kurds and the Sunnis," President Jalal
Talabani told reporters.
"We should respect the demands of the Sunnis because
the constitution is not to serve only a certain
category of people but for the whole of Iraq," said
Talabani, a Kurd.
Jaafari said Tuesday that the charter was nearly
complete with consensus on 151 of 153 articles,
including the federal status of the government and
the status of regions and provinces.
The writing of the document, a key stage in Iraq's
political transition following the US-led war that
ousted Saddam Hussein, has been hampered by sharp
differences on federalism, the role of Islam in
legislation, and sharing of oil revenues.
Under intense US pressure, Iraqi leaders had
presented an incomplete draft to lawmakers in a
nail-biting drama late Monday, beating the
stipulated deadline by just a few minutes.
But the draft did not have the consent of Sunni
Arabs, who remain opposed to federalism, the terms
of an agreement to share oil wealth and draft
provisions dealing with former members of Saddam's
Baath party.
The Sunni Association of Muslim Scholars said the
draft was "fragile and would lead to the division of
Iraq." The process "failed to achieve the minimum
national consensus needed to legitimise any
constitution", it warned.
"I do not think there will be any consensus," said
Sunni panelist Saleh al-Motlag.
"We want to include an article in the charter that
stresses keeping Iraq united and stopping any
efforts to dismantle it."
AFP
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