• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Roundup: Iraq's Main Sunni Party Decides to Support Constitution

Posted on: Wednesday, 12 October 2005, 09:00 CDT

Roundup: Iraq's main Sunni party decides to support constitution

by Ran Wei

BAGHDAD, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi leaders agreed on Tuesday to review possible changes to the constitution after the country's December elections, paving the way for holding a referendum of the charter on Saturday as schedule.

Shortly after the agreement was reached, one of Iraq's main Sunni Arab political party, the Iraqi Islamic Party, had decided to call on its supporters to say "Yes" in the weekend referendum.

Earlier on Tuesday night, a spokesman for Iraqi President Jalal Talabani revealed that Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni leaders had reached a basic agreement to amend the constitution and an announcement about the details of amendments will be released on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, a senior member of Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari's Dawa Party also confirmed the accord, saying a committee will be set up after the December parliamentary elections to come up with possible changes to the charter within four months after its creation.

Sources concerned said the US diplomats had played an important role in bringing Iraqi leaders to reach the agreement, which is seen as an attempt by the Shiite-Kurd dominated government to win Sunni Arabs' endorsement of the constitution.

Shortly afterwards, Dr. Alaa Meki, member of the central committee of the Iraqi Islamic Party, told Xinhua that since an agreement has been reached, we, as the country's main Sunni Arab party, now call on our supporters to vote "Yes" in the referendum.

"The most important thing is that we agree that a committee will be formed four months after the December parliamentary elections and it will have the right to review and make amendments to the constitution," he added.

When asked about two heated-discussed points in the draft constitution, federalism and the Arab identity, Meki said "we have solved the problems."

According to him, the original statement of the "Arab people in Iraq are part of the Arab nation" will be changed into "Iraqi people are part of the Arab nation."

But he did not specify what kind of changes have been made to the stipulation that Iraq will be a federal state.

"This is a positive step. This will lead to a successful political process in this country," he stressed.

However, there are still differences among the Sunni Arab community, making up a fifth of Iraq's population.

Media reports noted that some Sunni leaders have still called upon the community to vote "No" to the charter or boycott the ballot, saying the constitution will marginalize the Sunnis and plunge the country into sectarian strife.

The constitution will be vetoed if two thirds of the voters in at least three provinces say "No" to it. If the charter fails in the referendum, the current parliament will be dissolved.

On the other hand, security situation in Iraq has remained worse across the country, which has posed big challenges to the development of the political process.

Violence has surged in the run-up to the Oct. 15 referendum on a draft constitution, with insurgents intensifying attacks in a bid to disrupt the political process.

A massive blast ripped through a busy market in the northern Iraqi town of Tal Afar near the Syrian border, killing some 30 people and wounding over 30 others, police said.

Shortly after it, an Iraqi army convoy was attacked by a suicide car bomb west of Baghdad and initial reports put the death toll at 25, an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua.

"We don't know the exact casualties yet, but dozens were killed and wounded," the source said, adding the blast scene in the western Amiriya district has been cordoned off.

Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS

More News in this Category