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Arab league says iraq constitution recipe for chaos { August 29 2005 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4194214.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4194214.stm Last Updated: Monday, 29 August 2005, 10:35 GMT 11:35 UK Iraq charter a 'recipe for chaos' Parts of the Iraqi draft constitution submitted on Sunday are a "recipe for chaos", Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa has warned. He told the BBC the Arab League shared Sunni Muslim concerns over federalism and the fact the charter does not identify Iraq as an Arab country. The US and UK have played down Sunni leaders' rejection of the text, which will go to a referendum by 15 October. Plans are being made to distribute copies of the text around the country. Shia and Kurdish negotiators have endorsed the document, but negotiators from the Sunni minority refused to put their names to it. They fear the proposals would lead to the break-up of the country into a Kurdish north and Shia south, depriving the Sunnis of access to the country's oil resources. Mr Moussa, of the Arab League, told the BBC's World Today programme: "I share the concerns of many Iraqis about the lack of consensus on the constitution." He said he was concerned that the draft text denies Iraq's "Arab identity". "I do not believe in this division between Shia and Sunni and Muslims and Christians and Arabs and Kurds," he said. "I don't buy this and I find in this a true recipe for chaos and perhaps a catastrophe in Iraq and around it." US President George W Bush welcomed the completion of work on Iraq's draft constitution and said the referendum was a chance for Iraqis to "set the foundation for a permanent Iraqi government". "Of course there's disagreement. We're watching a political process unfold, a process that's encouraged debate and compromise," he said. But it is possible the document may never come into force. To be ratified, the constitution has to be approved by a majority of voters across the country - as well as not being rejected by two-thirds of voters in at least three or more of Iraq's 18 provinces. The Sunnis are dominant in four provinces and thus in effect have a power of veto, correspondents say. Federal fears Iraq's President Jalal Talabani also called on all Iraqis to support the draft document. "We hope that this constitution will be accepted by all Iraqis and that it will be for everybody," he said. "For sure there is no book that is perfect and cannot be amended except the holy Koran." Among the Sunni concerns are provisions in the constitution which exclude former Baath party officials from public office and which pave the way towards federalism. They are concerned that allowing for federalism may lead to the creation of an autonomous Shia area in southern Iraq - like the Kurdish north but under Iran's influence. However, the Sunni representatives said they would play an active role in the elections scheduled for December and calling on all Sunnis in Iraq to register to vote.

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