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| Iraq |
| Iraqi MPs endorse constitution changes as Zark kills 30 |
| 2005-10-13 |
| Iraqi lawmakers yesterday endorsed last-minute changes to the new constitution in a bid to ease damaging ethnic divisions just three days before the charter is put to a national vote. But insurgents who have vowed to disrupt Saturdayâs referendum wreaked more bloodshed as a suicide bomber killed 30 people at an army recruitment centre in of Tal Afar. The attack, claimed by Al Qaeda, came as political leaders hammered out concessions over the constitution in a bid to win over the ousted Sunni elite, which has threatened to reject the charter or even boycott the vote altogether. Under the deal, Shiâite, Sunni and Kurdish leaders agreed to several new elements and modifications for the draft and to the creation of a panel to consider further revisions once new legislative elections are held in December. âThese amendments open new horizons and give everyone the chance to participate in the political process and in the building of the second Iraqi republic,â parliament speaker Hajim Al Hasani, a Sunni, told lawmakers. âToday is a day for national consensus,â added Iraqâs Kurdish President Jalal Talabani. The assembly gave its seal of the approval to the revisions, which serve to reiterate the countryâs unity and Arab character. However, a number of Sunni parties remain hostile to the constitution, reflecting the friction that has marked the long and tortuous negotiations on the document that lays out the future for a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq. The draft constitution will be adopted if a simple majority of voters approve the text and if two thirds of voters in three or more provinces do not reject it. In Washington the White House hailed the accord, but a top State Department official said: âI donât think the whole thing is conclusive at this point.â Attacks have continued despite security being strengthened nationwide for the vote, with the partial closure of some international borders, air and sea ports, traffic restrictions and a weapons ban. Iraqi leaders voiced confidence that the charter would win the backing of the people, with Sunni Vice President Ghazi Al Yawar telling reporters: âIt was done in haste... but it is the best we can do.â An Al Qaeda-linked militant group threatened to kill the partyâs leaders over its stance, according to an Internet statement. In other attacks Wednesday, three soldiers and one policemen were killed, while a gas and two oil pipelines were set ablaze in northern Iraq. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |