Iraq constitution split on federated state
Masked gunmen have killed three Sunni Arabs in front of horrified witnesses outside a mosque in Mosul, after grabbing them as they hung posters urging fellow Sunnis to vote in a referendum on the new constitution.
As the Monday deadline to finish the constitution approaches, Sunni Arabs and some Shiites rallied in Baghdad and elsewhere yesterday to protest calls for a federated state – a demand of the Kurds and the biggest Shiite party but a key stumbling block to an agreement on the charter.
Talks continued into this morning with US officials intensifying pressure on the Kurds to accept Shiite and Sunni demands for a greater role of Islam in government and to abandon their demand for the right to secede, Kurdish officials said.
The three members of Iraq’s largest Sunni Arab political group, the Iraqi Islamic Party, were seized in a Mosul neighbourhood where they were promoting voter registration for the October 15 referendum on the new constitution, said pary official Nouredine al-Hayali.
They were driven to another neighbourhood, shoved against a wall near the Dhi al-Nourein mosque and shot dead while more masked gunmen blocked off a major street, witnesses said. The gunmen then fled in three cars, leaving the bodies behind.
It was the second armed attack in as many days against Sunni Arabs participating in the US-backed political process, despite threats from insurgents and al Qaida’s wing in Iraq.
On Thursday, masked gunmen burst into the Sunni grand mosque in Ramadi, 135 miles south of Mosul, as religious, political, and tribal leaders were discussing the constitutional process. The gunmen demanded the meeting end and then opened fire, said Omar Seri, secretary of the governor of Anbar province.
Three members of the Sunni Association of Muslim Scholars and a bodyguard were injured, Seri said.
Many Sunni Arabs are considering taking part in the constitutional referendum after having boycotted the January 30 national election ballot – a move that left the once-dominant community with few seats in a parliament dominated by Shiites and Kurds.
In recent weeks, various Sunni groups have been urging fellow Sunnis to vote in the referendum and a general election planned for December. The voter-registration deadline is September 1.
The US believes the key to defeating the Sunni-dominated insurgency is to encourage an inclusive political process that would encourage disaffected Sunni Arabs to lay down arms.
The entire process hinges on the success of the drafting committee in producing a constitution acceptable to all Iraqi communities by Monday’s deadline. If parliament approves the draft, it goes to voters for ratification in October.
However, negotiations in the heavily guarded Green Zone have bogged down over such issues as federalism, distribution of Iraq’s oil wealth, the role of Islam and Kurdish demands for the right to secede – a stand that goes beyond mere federalism.
Kurdish negotiators said that the Americans were pressing Kurds to accept Shiite and Sunni demands for a greater role for Islam at the expense of women’s rights and civil liberties.
A US Embassy spokesman said he was not aware of results of the latest round of talks. If the Kurdish claims are true, it would appear the US wants to please the Shiite majority in order to get a draft charter by the deadline. Kurds make up between 15% and 20% of Iraq’s population, compared to an estimated 60% for the Shiites.
Last Monday, parliament voted unanimously to grant a one-week extension to finish the draft. Under the interim constitution, however, parliament must be dissolved if the draft is not completed by this final deadline.
