Sunni Arabs reject signed draft Iraq constitution

Two of Iraq’s Sunni Arab negotiators said today that the Sunni team rejects the final constitution draft, which was approved earlier in the day by the full constitution committee.

Mohammed Abed-Rabbou, one of the four principle negotiators on the 15-member Sunni team, said the Sunni officials refused to accept the draft “because the points of disagreement were not amended” to their satisfaction.

Those included proposals to transform Iraq into a federated country and references to Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party.

Another Sunni negotiator, Fakhr al-Qaisi, said “the draft was rejected” because of wording about “Iraq’s unity, Iraq’s Arab identity” and the designation of Islam as “a main source” of legislation and not the main one.

The comments set the stage for a bitter political battle before the October 15 referendum when Iraqis will decide whether to accept or reject the document.