Compromises sought on Iraq constitution
(AP)
Updated: 2005-08-18 19:33

Lawmakers tried to reach compromises with Sunni Arab leaders Thursday on Iraq's draft constitution, and a roadside bomb north of Baghdad killed four American soldiers, the U.S. military said, reported the Associated Press.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, right, joins US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Richard Myers during a press briefing, Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2005, in the heavily fortified 'Green Zone' area of Baghdad, Iraq. General Myers expressed his optimism that the drafting of Iraq's new constitution will be finished by the extended deadline of August 22. [AP]

Government officials said that Wednesday's synchronized car bombings at a bus station and nearby hospital that killed up to 43 people in Baghdad were an attempt to target Shiites and stoke civil war between religious groups in the country.

"They targeted an area that has a population of people from southern Shiite provinces, and their message was that their government is unable to protect you from us," government spokesman Laith Kubba said. "They want a reaction against Sunnis to therefore deepen the sectarian crisis in the country."

Kubba said flyers had recently been handed out in some Baghdad neighborhoods threatening Shiites if they did not leave the city. At least one person, a Sunni Arab woman married to a Shiite, had been killed after the threats, he said.

Kubba also said four suspects arrested on suspicion of being involved in the attack the prior day had been released after questioning.

Meanwhile, the military said a roadside bomb killed four U.S. soldiers Thursday in the tense, religiously mixed city of Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad. No further details were immediately available.

Samarra is among a series of towns and cities in central and western Iraq that fell into insurgent hands last year after the United States transferred sovereignty to the Iraqis. U.S. forces regained control last year but the situation there remains uncertain.

As the constitutional talks began, one Sunni Arab lawmaker expressed confidence that remaining differences would be resolved in time for the Monday deadline.

"I expect that the constitution would be finished before Monday. Negotiations are still underway and everybody is determined to finish it before the deadline," said Saleh al-Mutlaq, a Sunni member of the constitutional committee.

However, al-Mutlaq also warned that serious differences remain.

"I believe that there are some groups that have taken more than they deserve and want to pass the constitution quickly," he said. "In order for this constitution to work, these groups that have taken more than what they deserve must abandon some of their demands."

Sunni members were scheduled to meet the U.S. and British ambassadors later in the day, al-Mutlaq said. He accused U.S. officials of rushing the drafting process.

"Americans are more concerned about the sacred deadlines rather than the contents of the constitution," he said.

On Wednesday, the country's largest Sunni political group, the Iraqi Islamic Party, issued a blistering attack on the drafting committee, accusing it of bias and incompetence. The party said major differences remain on the same issues that blocked a deal last week.

Lawmakers said the unresolved differences included federalism, the role of the Shiite clergy and the distribution of Iraq's vast oil wealth. The Sunnis also want the new constitution to affirm the country's Arab and Islamic identity and that Islam be declared a main source in legislation.

Once the draft is approved by parliament, it will be submitted to the voters in a referendum Oct. 15. If two-thirds of the voters in three of the 18 provinces reject the constitution, it will be defeated. Sunnis form the majority in at least four provinces.

Elsewhere, the lawyer for Tariq Aziz, a former deputy prime minister, foreign minister and top lieutenant of Saddam Hussein, claimed Thursday his client could be released soon because of legal missteps by the Iraqi tribunal set up to prosecute former regime figures.

"I expect some relief for detainees and I expect that Tariq Aziz might be released because there are no charges against him, along with many detainees," said lawyer Badee Izzat Aref. The government did not confirm the claim.

Under Iraqi law, formal charges are not laid until a preliminary investigation has been completed. Suspects can be held while the investigation is continuing.

Violence continued Thursday.

Insurgents threw a hand grenade at an Iraqi patrol in central Fallujah, wounding two troops, police 1st Lt. Jassim Ouwaid said. The attack came one day after a car bombing killed three people in the city that was once an insurgent stronghold before a U.S. offensive retook the city in November of last year.

Meanwhile, an official said Iraqis living in other countries will not be allowed to vote outside Iraq in the October constitutional referendum as they were able to do in national elections this year.

Farid Ayar, spokesman for the election commission, cited the low turnout among Iraqi expatriates in the Jan. 30 balloting and the difficulty in meeting a condition for determining whether the constitution has been approved.

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