Islam gets major role in Iraqi civil law under draft constitution
The proposal also appears to rule out non-governmental militias. On the Baghdad's western outskirts, gunmen shot up a pair of buses carrying workers home from a government-owned company yesterday, killing 12 and wounding nine, police said. Attackers also fatally shot a Baghdad police officer and wounded a Health Ministry employee. Insurgents are waging a bloody campaign of bombings and other gun attacks in an effort to undermine Iraq's government and its political efforts, such as drafting a new constitution. The civil law section, one of six to make up Iraq's new charter, covers the rights and duties of citizens and public and private freedoms. The language is not final, but members of the drafting committee said there was agreement on most of its wording.
Committee members have been rushing to complete the constitution so the Iraqi National Assembly can set the final wording by August 15. Parliament's version would be put to a public vote by mid-October, and if approved, elections would follow by year's end.
