Sunnis say they've been left out of talks
(AP)
Updated: 2005-08-21 11:10

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Sunni Arabs complained Saturday they were being sidelined in talks on the new constitution only two days before the deadline and warned that their community will reject the document if it is submitted to parliament without Sunni consent.

"They will surprise us in the final hour," Saleh al-Mutlaq, one of four main Sunni negotiators, told The Associated Press. "We will reject it and the people will be angry, the street will be angry and as a result we will be back to square one."

But a Shiite politician, Khaled al-Attiyah, was upbeat and said the negotiations were in the final stage. He said the Shiites submitted a new proposal on the distribution of Iraq's oil wealth, one of the remaining obstacles to a deal by the Monday night deadline.

Sunni Arabs also object to demands by Kurds and the largest Shiite party for a federal state, and oppose a major role for Shiite clergy in Najaf.

On Saturday, it appeared that only Kurds and Shiites were negotiating. Sunni Arabs were not present at the deliberations and al-Mutlaq said "things are not good."

Another principal Sunni negotiator, Ayad al-Samarai, said Sunnis agreed with the Kurds and Shiites on some unspecified points.

He added: "Concerning federalism, we are still holding to our position, which is that it be postponed until after the general elections, and we refused to accept it in the constitution at this time."

Al-Samarai said the Sunnis accepted the existence of the Kurdish self-ruled region, established in 1991, but did not want the system duplicated elsewhere as long as U.S. and other foreign troops remain in Iraq.

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