Foreign Correspondence

[Amaunet]

Iraq Sunnis Urge U.S., U.N. to Block Draft

Updated 12:33 PM ET August 21, 2005

One day before the deadline for Iraq's new constitution, Sunni Arab negotiators appealed Sunday to the United States and the international community to prevent Shiites and Kurds from pushing a draft charter through parliament without Sunni consent.

An Iraqi government spokesman suggested that if the factions cannot agree on a draft by Monday night, parliament may have to amend the interim constitution yet again to extend the deadline and prevent its dissolution.

In Jordan, two newspapers published a letter from Saddam Hussein in which he vowed to sacrifice himself for the cause of Palestine and Iraq, urged Arabs to follow his path and implied he would become a martyr for the Arab cause.

The letter was delivered through the International Committee of the Red Cross to an old friend of Saddam's now living in Jordan.

"My soul and my existence is to be sacrificed for our precious Palestine and our beloved, patient and suffering Iraq," the letter to an unidentified friend said.



"It is not much for a man to support his nation with his soul and all he commands because it deserves it since it has given us life in the name of God and allowed us to inherit the best."

Saddam's trials on war crimes charges begin this fall.

The deadline for a new constitution already was extended by a week last Monday after negotiators failed to reach agreement on a number of contentious issues, including federalism, distribution of Iraq's oil wealth, power relationships among the provinces and the role of the Shiite clerical hierarchy in Najaf.

The 15-member Sunni Arab bloc issued its statement after complaining that it was being sidelined by Shiites and Kurds, who were cutting deals without them.

"At a time when there are few hours left to announce the draft, we still see no active coordination and seriousness to draft the constitution," the statement said.

Sunni Arabs said they were only invited to a single meeting with the other community negotiators since Monday. That session was held Friday.

The statement urged the United States, the United Nations and the international community to intervene to prevent a draft constitution from moving forward without unanimous agreement, "which would make the current crisis more complicated."

Vice President Adil Abdul-Mahdi, a Shiite, told Forat television that 97 percent of the document had been agreed upon and would be submitted to parliament by the deadline.

Government spokesman Laith Kubba also expressed hope that political leaders would complete the draft in time. If not, Kubba said there were two options: amend the interim constitution again and extend the deadline or dissolve parliament.

Shiites and Kurds have enough seats in parliament to push through a draft even without the Sunnis. Because so many Sunni Arabs boycotted the Jan. 30 elections, they won only 17 of the 275 seats in the National Assembly. Sunni Arabs form an estimated 20 percent of the national population.

But Sunni Arabs could in theory scuttle the constitution in the Oct. 15 referendum. Under current rules, the constitution would be defeated if it is opposed by two-thirds of the voters in three of Iraq's 18 provinces. Sunni Arabs form the majority in at least four.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi government criticized its neighbor Jordan for allegedly allowing Saddam's family to fund a network seeking to destabilize Iraq and re-establish the banned Baath Party.

"It is regrettable to say that until now there are big numbers of elements, not only former regime elements, but supervisors of some terrorist groups who are in Jordan," Kubba, the government spokesman, said.

Kubba cited Saddam's relatives who live in Jordan, where they have "huge amounts of money" to "support ... efforts to revive Baath Party organizations." Kubba did not specify individual family members, but Saddam's two oldest daughters live in the Jordanian capital, Amman.

Relations between Jordan and Iraq have been strained by various issues since Saddam's regime was toppled in 2003. However, it appeared Kubba's statements were aimed in part at deflecting criticism from Jordan about the possible involvement of Iraqis in subversive operations in Jordan.

Jordanian police have detained an undetermined number of Iraqis as well as other foreign Arab suspects in the Friday rocket attack that barely missed a U.S. warship docked in Aqaba.

"We don't want Jordan to harm a quarter of a million Iraqis (living in Jordan) because of one Iraqi" involved in Friday's attack, which killed a Jordanian soldier, Kubba said.

There was no immediate comment from the Jordanian government, which has been seeking to improve relations with its eastern neighbor once its closest trading partner and only supplier of oil.

In other developments:

Baghdad city councilman Sabir al-Issawi was in serious condition after a Saturday ambush that left one of his bodyguards dead and three others wounded, officials said.

Two Interior Ministry security officials were shot dead while driving through western Baghdad, police Lt. Majid Zaki said.

In Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, a policeman and a civilian were killed in a drive-by shooting, and five members of a single family were found shot dead overnight, a police spokesman said.



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