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Shiites and kurds back charter sunnies dont Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aUv3QxaOr2Os&refer=top_world_newshttp://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aUv3QxaOr2Os&refer=top_world_news
Iraqi Shiite, Kurdish Leaders Back Draft Charter; Sunnis Don't
Aug. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Iraq's Shiite political leaders prepared to send a draft constitution to the parliament later today while trying to persuade minority Sunnis to back the charter.
Kurdish and Shiite Muslim leaders have agreed on the broad points and ``the difficulty now is for all the other groups, including the Sunnis, to agree on the text, too,'' Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari's spokesman, Leith Kubba, said in a telephone interview from the capital, Baghdad.
Iraq's parliament voted to extend the original Aug. 15 deadline by a week to give negotiators more time to debate issues including the role of Islam in the legislature, self-determination and control over oil reserves and production. Debate on the document officially began in May.
The constitution is intended to pave the way for an election by Dec. 31 and be the foundation for a new government that the U.S. is counting on to take a greater role in battling a Sunni-led insurgency and easing pressure on the U.S. military.
While the Kurds and Shiites hold the two-thirds majority required in the National Assembly to approve the constitution on their own, they have been reaching out to members of the Sunni Muslim minority to bring them into the political process.
The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad is helping mediate the talks, assisting at the request of the parties, according to the White House. President George W. Bush is monitoring developments ``very closely,'' spokesman Trent Duffy told reporters today on Air Force One while flying into Salt Lake City.
Iraq is defined as a ``federal'' republic in the draft, according to a copy seen by Reuters. Sunnis have expressed concerns about self-ruling Kurdish and Shiite regions, rich in oil reserves, being carved from Iraq.
Federalism at Issue
Al-Jaafari's administration has said that Sunni involvement in the drafting of the charter is crucial to stemming a Sunni-led insurgency. Most Sunnis boycotted the Jan. 30 election of assembly members that brought the Kurds and Shiites to power.
Shiite negotiator Jawad al-Maliki told reporters today that federalism remains the only obstacle, according to the Associated Press. He said that parliament would convene later today to vote on the charter.
Federalism is important to Kurds who have lived autonomously in the three Kurdish-controlled northern provinces of Sulemaniyah, Arbil and Dohuk, since the 1991 Gulf War. Iraqi Kurds were subject to repeated attacks and repression by Saddam Hussein's regime before that time.
Sunnis oppose the idea of federalism, which they say will deprive them of access to Iraq's oil, the world's third-largest reserve of crude. Production and reserves are split between the predominately Shiite south of the country and the north.
If the document is submitted to legislators today, it will be presented to Iraqis in an October referendum. A national election to form a new government would follow in December.
Plan by Rebels
Ansar al-Sunna, an insurgent movement of Iraq's minority Sunni Muslims, urged followers in a statement to register and vote against the constitution, saying ``rejecting the constitution will defeat the American plan in Iraq,'' and that voting is ``jihad against the Americans,'' the Washington Post reported today. Renegade Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr told his supporters to register and ``wait for our order to come later on whether to vote or not,'' the newspaper said.
Officials have been ``discussing all options'' in case the deadline today for presenting the constitution is missed, according to Kubba.
``One possibility is that they can ask for a further one-week extension,'' Kubba said. ``Or they could submit a document with one or two articles left out that can be submitted later.''
If the negotiators don't seek a new extension and can't agree on the text, the National Assembly would be dissolved by law, the government would assume a caretaker role and the process would start again, Kubba said.
Last Updated: August 22, 2005 13:14 EDT
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