Iraq’s top leaders formally announced on Wednesday a last-ditch political deal aimed at securing the adoption of a post-Saddam Hussein Constitution in a national referendum just three days away.
Parliament was due to endorse the agreement hammered out late on Tuesday in a bid to win over the ousted Sunni elite, which had threatened to reject the charter or even boycott Saturday’s vote altogether.
Under the deal clinched after weeks of intensive negotiations, Parliament will consider revisions to the Constitution after new elections to be held in December, whatever the result of the referendum.
”Today is an historic day. I am confident that there will be a consensus on the constitution on the day of the vote,” Kurdish President Jalal Talabani said. ”The charter … will strengthen the unity of the Iraqi people.”
In a show of solidarity, he was speaking at a press conference with parliamentary Speaker Hajim al-Hasani and Vice-President Ghazi al-Yawar, both Sunni Arabs, and Abdel Aziz Hakim, the head of the main Shi’ite party, the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq.
”It was done in haste … but it is the best we can do,” Yawar said.
Sunni-backed insurgents have already vowed to disrupt violently the vote on the Constitution, a milestone in the war-ravaged political transition that has deeply divided the country on sectarian grounds.
The Sunnis have voiced strong opposition to the federal provisions of the draft, fearing it could lead to the break-up of the country and leave control of the vast oil wealth in the hands of Shi’ites and Kurds.
The main Sunni party, the Iraqi Islamic Party, said it would call for a yes-vote when 15,5-million registered voters are to cast their ballots two-and-a-half years after the ouster of Saddam by United States-led invasion forces.
The US had been engaged in efforts to bring on board the Sunnis — who lost power after Saddam’s ouster and largely boycotted the January elections — in the hope it would weaken the insurgency and enable the departure of foreign troops.
But several Sunni groups have voiced oppposition to the deal.
”I have not accepted this accord. I don’t think it’s enough and from a practical point of view it doesn’t bring anything new,” said Salah Motlag, spokesperson for the National Dialogue Council.
The influential Council of Muslim Scholars, the main Sunni clerical group, has ruled out any involvement in the political process under ”occupation” and said it rejects the deal.
However, the draft Constitution will be adopted if a majority of voters approve the text and if two-thirds of voters in three or more provinces do not reject it.
Under Tuesday’s deal, a committee to be set up after the December vote will have four months to consider amendments to the charter, which will then be put to another referendum.
No end to violence
Despite the political accord, violence continued on the ground, with 30 people killed on Wednesday when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a large crowd of people outside an army recruitment centre in the north-western Iraqi town of Tal Afar, police said.
The attack also left 35 people wounded.
Wednesday also saw a bomb attack against the convoy of Saad Naif al-Hardan, the Sunni minister for state for provinces, near the highly fortified Green Zone that houses Iraqi government offices and the US and British embassies.
Three guards and three civilians were injured in the attack, which followed death threats against Hardan over his involvement in the Shi’ite-led government.
Three soldiers and one police officer were also killed in attacks on Wednesday, while a gas pipeline and two oil pipelines were set ablaze in northern Iraq.
Two US soldiers died in a car accident, bringing to at least 1 955 the number of US military personnel killed since the US-led invasion, according to a tally based on Pentagon figures.
On Tuesday, at least 53 people were killed in a string of attacks, including a suicide car bombing in Tal Afar claimed by the al-Qaeda group of Iraq’s most wanted man, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
The Jordanian-born Islamist has declared ”all-out war” on Shi’ites.
But Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man Ayman al-Zawahir has questioned the wisdom of opening up a conflict with the Shi’ites, warning in a letter made public by the US on Tuesday that it is unacceptable to most Muslims.
The letter to Zarqawi contains a detailed argument for balancing attacks with political efforts aimed at gaining popular support for al-Qaeda in Iraq.
While Zawahiri accused the Shi’ites of treason and collusion with the Americans, he warned Zarqawi that ”many of your Muslim admirers among the common folk are wondering about your attacks on the Shia”.
Iraqi and US authorities have warned that the violence that has plagued the country since Saddam’s downfall will increase in the run-up to the referendum.
Security is being strengthened nationwide, with the partial closure of some international borders, air and sea ports, as well as traffic restrictions and a weapons ban.
”I expect violence, because there’s a group of terrorists and killers who want to try to stop the advance of democracy in Iraq,” US President George Bush said on Tuesday. But he added: ”I also expect people to vote, which is a remarkable achievement.”
Ironically, the vote is taking place three years to the day since the last referendum that returned Saddam to power with reportedly 100% of the vote.
He and seven former henchmen are due to go on trial from October 19 over the 1982 murder of 143 Shi’ite villagers. — AFP
