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BAGHDAD-Iraq, 14.Sep (AP) -Iraq's draft
constitution has been finalized and will be sent to
the United Nations to be printed, a leading Shiite
lawmaker said Wednesday.
"Today we accomplished the final amendments of the
new constitution and the final version has been
presented to the United Nations to print it and to
be distributed to the Iraqi people," said Hussein
al-Shahristani, deputy speaker of the National
Assembly.
Under an agreement with the government, the world
body is supposed to print and oversee the
distribution of the document ahead of an Oct. 15
referendum on the charter.
Al-Shahristani said several changes had been made in
the version adopted by the drafting committee and
sent to parliament on Aug. 28, after several
deadlines were missed. The Sunni Arab minority
rejected the document that was approved by the
dominant Shiite and Kurdish blocs.
Iraqis will vote on the charter in the referendum,
with the outcome still not assured because of
opposition in the Sunni community.
The latest changes included an apparent bow to
demands from the Arab League that the country be
described as a founding member of the pan-Arab
organization and that it was "committed to its
charter."
Al-Shahristani, a senior Shiite politician, said
other changes included a reference to water
resources being managed by the central government
and not by provincial authorities. Also, the latest
version of the national charter provided for the
prime minister to have two deputies in the Cabinet.
The Sunnis are unlikely to be appeased by the latest
changes. They have vehemently opposed the draft
constitution citing a number of points including
federalism, references to Saddam Hussein's
Sunni-dominated party and the description of Iraq as
a Muslim but not Arab country.
Sunnis say that turning the traditionally
centralized country into a loose federation would
set the stage for its eventual disintegration.
AP
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