Iraqi constitution gets Sunni party's backing

BASRA - Prospects of Iraq's new constitution being passed in the impending referendum increased yesterday after one of the main Sunni parties said they are likely to back it.

Under a proposed deal the new National Assembly to be formed after elections in December will consider further amendments, even if the vote is for accepting the constitution.

The agreement outlines four additions to the draft constitution being considered and outline how future amendments will be made.

Any changes will have to be approved by the Assembly and put to yet another referendum.

The concessions were enough to win over the Iraqi Islamic Party, whose senior negotiator, Ayad al-Samarraie said "the measure would allow us to stop the campaign rejecting the constitution and we will call on Sunni Arabs to vote yes."

Ridha Jawad Taqi of SCIRI (the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq), the main Shia party, stated: "The important principle here is that this provides an assurance to the Sunnis that this constitution is not the end of history but is subject to amendment".

The agreement was reached after three days of talks between the opposing parties at the home of Jalal Talabani, the Kurdish president of Iraq.

US officials, who orchestrated the meeting, pressed Shia and Kurdish factions to make concessions to the Sunni leaders who had complained that they were being sidelined in the Iraq envisaged by the constitution.

In particular they maintained that the proposed federal structure of the country, which allowed Shias control of the oil fields in the south, while the Kurds hold the ones in the north, will lead to the dismemberment of the country.

The agreement is due to be debated and voted by the National Assembly. It came in return for a promise of a review of the constitution by a new parliament next year and some minor amendments now -- including a reassurance former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party would not be persecuted.

"I hope this is the beginning of a new kind of co-operation among all Iraqis," said President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd. "The only book that cannot be changed is the Koran."

Other major Sunni parties were not present at the negotiations, and a number of Sunni leaders maintained that the "concessions" were illusory, as the in-built Shia and Kurdish majority in the National Assembly would ensure that the status quo is not altered in any significant way.

One leading Sunni politician, Saleh al-Mutlaq, declared that he was un-convinced by the conditions.

"The Islamic party was participating alone in these negotiations and making its own decisions.

This is strange because the Iraqi Islamic party does not represent all the Sunni Arabs but only a small percentage of them," he said.

Millions of copies of the document have already been distributed in preparation for Saturday's vote and they cannot be recalled.

Instead the new clauses will be announced by the Iraqi government through the media.

Any proposed post-referendum changes will be suggested by an inter-party commission and will have to be approved by the entire National Assembly.

A new referendum will be held two months later.

- INDEPENDENT, REUTERS