Draft of Iraq constitution expected in days

By Luke Baker

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq’s constitution will be ready
before a mid-August deadline, the head of the drafting team
said on Wednesday, trying to calm fears that insurgent pressure
on Sunni Arab participants might derail the process.

His reassurances followed the killing on Tuesday of three
Sunni Arabs associated with the drafting committee and a
walkout on Wednesday by four other Sunni members in protest at
the murders and what they said was a general lack of security.

“A draft will be presented to the national assembly in the
first week of August,” Sheikh Humam al-Hammoudi told a news
conference in Baghdad.

He said work was proceeding well, with the various
subcommittees expected to complete their sections of the
document in the next two days. That initial draft would then be
revised and submitted to parliament, he said.

“After it is discussed by the national assembly and final
changes are made, five million copies will be distributed to
households …. on August 15,” he said.

Tuesday’s assassinations and Wednesday’s walkout struck a
powerful blow to the constitution committee, which is seen one
of the best hopes for forging a political end to the
insurgency.

Hammoudi said he was working to address the members’
security concerns in an effort to have them return to work.

Drawing Sunni Arabs onto the body was the cornerstone of
the U.S.-backed strategy to persuade members of the restive
minority to move from the streets into peaceful politics.

Completing the drafting of the constitution ahead of time
would be a boost to the Iraqi government, which is struggling
to get on top of the relentless violence stalking the country.

SUICIDE BOMBER

In the latest attack, a bomber strapped with explosives
blew himself up among a group of Iraqi army recruits at a
Baghdad airfield on Wednesday, killing six people and wounding
25, police and hospital workers said.

Hours before Tuesday’s killings, Iraqi President Jalal
Talabani, said he hoped the draft constitution could be ready
by the end of this month if Sunni concerns were addressed
quickly.

Extra Sunni members joined the committee last month, making
it the first nationwide political body to include significant
Sunni Arab representation since the new government, led by
Shi’ites and Kurds, took office in April.

The draft constitution must be approved by the public in a
referendum in October. If approved, it will be used to
determine the government that emerges from elections due in
December.

On Wednesday, the New York Times reported that one draft of
the constitution would give added prominence to Islamic law,
restricting the rights of women when it comes to issues such as
inheritance and divorce.

Members of the committee said, however, there were many
different drafts in circulation and no wording was finalized.
They said women would have equal rights under the law.

“There will be no humiliation for women,” said Kassim
Daoud, a committee member.

One of the key debates over the charter concerns the role
of religion. Many devout Iraqis want to see Islam described as
the source for law in the country, while others argue it should
be referred to as just one of several sources.

The pressure of coming up with an acceptable document by
the deadline has only been heightened by relentless violence.

A three-day onslaught of suicide attacks at the weekend,
ordered by al Qaeda in Iraq, a group headed by Jordanian
militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, claimed around 150 lives.

On Wednesday, Iraqi leaders held three minutes of silence
at midday to honor those killed in two of the worst recent
blasts — nearly two dozen children killed in a suicide car
bomb attack as they collected sweets from U.S. troops a week
ago, and 98 people killed on Saturday when a suicide bomber
blew himself up next to a fuel truck south of Baghdad.

Among those targeted by insurgents have been diplomats,
particularly those from Arab countries.

An Egyptian envoy was captured and reportedly killed by men
allied to Zarqawi earlier this month. But Egypt’s foreign
minister said there was a slim chance that he was still alive.

(Additional reporting by Waleed Ibrahim, Hiba Moussa, Peter
Graff and Mussab al-Khairalla in Baghdad)