Sunni group urges changes in Iraq charter

By Mariam Karouny

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – One of Iraq’s biggest Arab Sunni
parties said on Monday that it might back the country’s
constitution, but it urged changes to a text agreed by the
Shi’ite-dominated parliament.

President Bush hailed the draft as a breakthrough but
predicted an October referendum on the document would spark
“atrocities” after minority Sunnis, whose community is the seat
of the insurgency, rejected the text.

But the Iraqi Islamic Party, seen as moderate Islamist and
opposed to violence, said on Monday there was still room for
negotiation on the constitution.

“We have not signed the constitution and we still have the
time starting from now until the referendum comes,” party
spokesman Tareq al-Hashemi told a news conference. “We might
say yes to the constitution if the disputed points are
resolved.”

The text read to parliament failed to overcome objections
by Sunnis, who lost their political dominance with the fall of
President Saddam Hussein, despite U.S. efforts to broker a
compromise between Iraq’s divided ethnic and religious groups.

Hundreds of people marched in Saddam’s hometown of Tikrit
to protest against the constitution, witnesses said.

They carried photographs of Saddam and held up banners
saying “No to the Zionist-American-Iranian constitution.” Some
Iraqis say the Shi’ite-led government is too close to Iran.

The BBC quoted Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa as
describing the Iraqi draft constitution as “dangerous.”

The United States and Britain, who see approval of a
constitution as key to defusing an insurgency, welcomed the
draft, hailing it as a victory for democracy over extremism.

SUNNI OPPOSITION

Rejection in the three of Iraq’s 18 provinces dominated by
Sunni Arabs would be enough to torpedo the constitution under
current referendum rules.

President Jalal Talabani urged Iraqis to vote ‘Yes’ in the
referendum, due by October 15, but acknowledged that rejection
by Sunni voters was a possibility.

“If they (Sunni voters) do participate, then the
constitution will (probably) fail and new elections will have
to take place to create a new drafting committee to come up
with a new constitution,” he told Al Arabiya television.

A Sunni Arab delegate on the drafting committee said all
his colleagues on the panel objected to the draft.

“We have not agreed on this constitution. We have
objections which are the same as we had from day one,” Hussein
al-Falluji, the Sunni Arab delegate, told Reuters.

“If there is no forging of the results, I believe the
people will say ‘No’ to the ‘American’ constitution,” he said.

Bush said the constitution “contains far-reaching
protections for fundamental human freedoms including religion,
assembly, conscience and expression.”

But he warned: “We can expect … atrocities to increase in
the coming months because the enemy knows that its greatest
defeat lies in the expression of free people in freely enacted
laws and at the ballot box.”

OPPOSITION, RESERVATIONS

Although Iraq’s parliament adjourned without a vote,
delegates in the Shi’ite- and Kurdish-dominated assembly said
the draft’s reading in parliament signified its acceptance.

“We tried hard to include everybody’s demands, but this
could not be done. Some people are still opposed to some
points,” said Parliament Speaker Hajim al-Hassani.

“But now we should think of this country and its unity.
Whoever wants to change something, then the referendum is the
final chance. Iraqis should prepare themselves for elections.”

Iraq will hold elections in December after the referendum.

The text read in parliament suggested limited concessions
to the Sunnis. Retreating from earlier drafts referring to
Saddam’s political party, it omitted the phrase “Baath party”
and instead banned “the Saddamist Baath and its symbols.”

Sunnis had pressed for the removal of any clauses in the
draft that bar party members from public life, arguing that not
all of them have blood on their hands.

Washington’s envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, hailed the document
but said he was disappointed by the Sunni reaction.

“I understand their circumstances, they are in a difficult
position. There are threats of intimidation, you’ve seen some
of them saying that they like the document, but they’re afraid
if they openly support it their lives could be at risk.”

Sunnis, who largely shunned a January election, giving them
little voice in the present interim parliament, are now
mobilizing in strength for the referendum and the election.

An editorial in the United Arab Emirates’ Al-Khaleej
newspaper said: “It seems that the constitution is a fait
accompli and will be imposed on Iraq regardless of the
objections of the Sunni Arabs.”

Anwar Qarqash, columnist in the UAE state-owned al-Ittihad
newspaper, said Sunnis only had themselves to blame.

“The constitution is a result of the will of the people.
However, this does not include the Sunnis desires because of
their widespread boycott of the elections which was clearly a
big mistake … they did not enter politics through the right
door — elections.”

Qatari newspaper Asharq urged Iraqis to agree on a
constitution that would benefit Iraq as a whole.

“Terms like sectarianism and ethnicism are not conducive to
the unity of Iraq and it is not democratic in the least to play
on these strings. The constitution should be an Iraqi
constitution which benefits all Iraqis.”