Leading Sunnis object to Iraq constitution

Five of the top Sunni Arabs in government spoke out against the draft constitution today – a major blow to deadline efforts to craft a document that can win the backing of all Iraqi groups.

Sunni negotiators sought changes in the draft on the eve of a parliament session to approve it.

US diplomats worked furiously to mediate a deal among the Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni Arab delegations so that the National Assembly can receive a document accepted by all – enhancing chances for an easy approval by the voters in the October 15 referendum.

The Shiites and Kurds have accepted the draft, but parliamentary approval over Sunni objections would be a severe blow to President George Bush’s hopes that the document could lure Sunni Arabs from the insurgency and hasten the day US troops could go home.

Sunni negotiators submitted counter-proposals today on the issues of federalism and the programme to purge former members of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party. There was no response from the Shiites and Kurds, who said compromises they submitted on those issues on Friday were their final offers.

US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad held late meetings with various negotiators and parliament speaker Hajim al-Hassani in a bid to broker an agreement acceptable to the Sunnis.

But prospects for a final-hour compromise dimmed further today when four Sunni Arab members of the Cabinet and one Sunni deputy prime minister declared they object to 13 provisions in the draft.

Among other things, the five Sunnis objected to measures reserving posts for members of specific religious groups, asked for postponement of any decision on federalism, wanted all references to Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party removed from the draft and insisted that the constitution identify Iraq as an Arab – and not just an Islamic – country.

The statement was issued by Culture Minister Nouri Farhan al-Rawi, Minister of State for Women’s Affairs, Azhar Abdel-Karim; the Minister of State for Provincial Affairs, Saad al-Hardan; Industry Minister Osama al-Najafi; and Deputy Prime Minister Abed Mutlaq al-Jbouri.

In a bid to ease Sunni concerns, the US military announced that nearly 1,000 security detainees – virtually all believed to be Sunnis – had been released from Abu Ghraib prison over the past several days – the largest release to date.

Police said they also freed an unspecified number of people arrested this week in the Madain area, 12 miles southeast of Baghdad. Sunnis complained that Shiite-controlled police had arrested scores of Sunnis in Madain to keep them from registering to vote in the constitutional referendum.

The registration deadline is Thursday.

Sunnis form only 20% of the national population. But if two-thirds of the voters in any three provinces reject the charter in the October referendum, the constitution will be defeated. Sunnis form the majority in at least four provinces.

Al-Hassani, the parliament speaker, plans to convene the legislature tomorrow. It was unclear whether the draft would be put to a vote in the assembly, where Shiites and Kurds hold 221 of the 275 seats.

Shiite negotiator Ali al-Adeeb insisted his group offered major concessions on federalism and the programme to purge former Baath members from government and public life.

“Regarding the powers given to provinces, this is the right of the Iraqi people and we can give up this right,” al-Adeeb said. “It could be regulated by the next National Assembly, this article is optional. … As for the Baath issue, there were crimes and there should be punishment for the criminals. This is a right of Iraqis that we cannot give up.”

Opponents of the constitution within both the Sunni and Shiite communities have rejected the draft – even before it was finalised.

“We consider this draft as a next step of this process which does not represent the peoples’ will,” the group declared.

“Those who want to say ‘no’ to the constitution in the referendum are free. We have major suspicions about the honesty of the next referendum, which will take place under occupation and with neither international nor Arabic and Islamic supervision.”

Sunnis fear that federalism, demanded by the Shiites and Kurds, not only would establish a giant Shiite state in the south but also encourage Kurds to try to expand their self-rule region into northern oil-producing areas. That would leave the Sunnis cut off from Iraq’s oil wealth.

Sunnis had insisted the issues of federalism and the fate of Baath party members be deferred to the next parliament, in which they hope to have more members. Sunni Arabs form an estimated 20% of the 27 million Iraqis but won only 17 of the 275 parliament seats because so many Sunnis boycotted the January 30 election.