Iraq president averts political crisis
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-06-10 08:45

Iraq's president averted a crisis Thursday by promising Sunni Arabs a big say in drafting the constitution — clearing the way for them to join a Shiite-dominated panel now working around the clock in a cavernous, dusty auditorium.

Sunni Arab support is vital to the lawmakers who gather inside the most heavily fortified area of the capital, trying to ignore assassination attempts, death threats and suicide attacks as they wrangle over sensitive charter details and sometimes give way to shouted arguments.

Iraqi President Jalal Talibani (R), with Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn beside him, speaks to reporters after a meeting with EU officials in Baghdad June 9, 2005. [Reuters]

Iraq's 275-seat parliament has until mid-August to adopt a new constitution that hasn't yet been written, must be acceptable to Iraq's voters, and is expected to deal with the tough issues of role of Islam in public life and the type of electoral system Iraq should have.

The document will face a nationwide vote two months later. If adopted, it will provide the basis for a new election to be held by December.

"It's all down to time," said Mariam Taleb al-Rayes, a Shiite legislator and one of nine women on the 55-deputy committee that meets in a second-story room behind dusty windows taped with a plastic coating to prevent the glass from shattering in case of explosions.

"We are working day and night," she told The Associated Press, sipping an orange soda and munching on a cookie while taking a break inside the Green Zone, a large swath of Baghdad where parliament, the U.S. Embassy and Iraq's government offices are located.

President Jalal Talabani, a Sunni Kurd, responded Thursday to threats by Sunni Arabs to boycott the process unless they were given more committee seats, and unless their members were allowed to vote.

"We have decided to add about 20 to 25 members from Sunnis in the committee, which will draft the constitution with full rights like other members who were elected by the parliament," Talabani said after meeting British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. "This will be done very soon and we are discussing to finalize the making of this decision."

The latest move to lure the reluctant Sunni Arab minority into the political process came amid reports that the Iraqi government and U.S. Embassy were both engaged in backchannel negotiations designed to get the Sunni-dominated insurgents involved in the political process.

At the same time, the government has undercut ties with the Sunni community by supporting the Badr Brigade militia of the Shiites and the pesh merga of the Kurds. Only Wednesday, Talabani, speaking at a public ceremony, praised the militia as being the "heroes of liberating Iraq."

The infighting over Sunni Arab participation has exposed the depth and danger of Iraq's sectarian politics. With both government and parliament dominated by Shiites and Kurds — two communities that make up nearly 80 percent of Iraqis but had long been oppressed — the Sunni Arabs have grown more embittered.

Straw said he was confident Iraq would meet its deadlines and prove its detractors wrong.

"Many, many people said there was no chance of meeting a Jan. 30 deadline for elections, no possibility that the elections could take place in a free way. They were wrong on both counts," Straw said after meeting Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari.

"I have every confidence that you will be able to meet those deadlines, the constitution will be delivered on time, there will be a referendum, and the elections will take place in December," he said.

Straw and three other senior European Union officials were on a historic visit to Baghdad, the EU's first since the U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein's regime two years ago.

The trip came ahead of a June 22 international conference on Iraq to be held in Brussels. More than 80 countries and international organizations are invited to the one-day session. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also is expected to attend.

The EU visit came on a relatively peaceful day around Iraq that saw little of the violence that has left nearly 900 people dead since al-Jaafari's government took office in late April after a historic Jan. 30 election boycotted by Sunni Arabs.

If Talabani's pledge is accepted by legislators, the Sunni Arabs will join the Shiite-dominated committee in a parallel body that would make decisions by consensus and refer them to the 55 legislators for approval. They then will go to the parliament.

Sunni Arab legislator Mishan al-Juburi welcomed Talabani's promise, saying it would vastly improve the community's representation. Parliament must adopt the proposal, he said.

Sunni Arab support is crucial. The draft charter will collapse if three of Iraq's four predominantly Sunni Arab provinces vote against it in October.

Adnan al-Janabi, one of two Sunni Arabs on the committee, told the AP Sunni Arab groups have agreed to join the 55 legislators in an expanded body.

The question of Sunni Arab inclusion in the constitutional process, demanded by the United States and the EU, is just one of several challenges facing legislators.

Al-Rayes, a lawyer, spoke of heated arguments in committee meetings, which take place in an auditorium twice the size of a volleyball court.

"It's a healthy thing that we argue," said al-Rayes. "They are arguments about major issues and arise from conflicting interests."

Gunmen this week killed two bodyguards of an official who is a member of the constitutional committee. But Al-Rayes, one of the committee's three coordinators, dismissed the threat of violence against committee members.

"Dozens of people die in Iraq every day." she said. "I am not any better than them."

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