Iraqi politicians scramble to reach agreement

The Iraqi parliament delayed a session today on whether to approve a new constitution hours before a deadline as faction leaders failed in last-minute talks to agree on a federated state and other divisive issues.

The two-hour delay came after some Iraqi politicians suggested that parliament should extend the deadline for approving the charter while others said it could be approved over Sunni objections as last-minute talks failed to produce agreement on a federated state and other divisive issues.