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Little violence as Iraqis vote on charter
(AP)
Updated: 2005-10-16 08:51 A day that U.S. and Iraqi leaders feared could become bloody turned out to be
the most peaceful in months, amid a heavy clampdown by U.S.-Iraqi forces across
the country.
Insurgents attacked five of Baghdad's 1,200 polling stations, wounding seven
voters, but there were no suicide bombings or other major attacks. Four Iraqi
soldiers were reported killed by attacks far from polling sites — compared to
the more than 100 attacks that hit January parliamentary elections, killing more
than 40 people.
"The constitution is a sign of civilization," Prime Minister Ibrahim
al-Jaafari said after casting his ballot. "This constitution has come after
heavy sacrifices. It is a new birth."
Iraqi soldiers carry ballot boxes at the end
of the voting day, in Baqouba, Iraq, Saturday Oct. 15 2005.
[AP] | The country's Shiite majority — some 60
percent of its estimated 27 million people — and the Kurds — another 20 percent
— largely support the approximately 140-article charter, which provides them
with autonomy in the northern and southern regions where they are concentrated.
The Sunni Arab minority, which dominated the country under Saddam Hussein and
forms the backbone of the insurgency, widely opposes the draft, convinced its
federalist system will tear the country into Shiite and Kurdish mini-states in
the south and north, leaving Sunnis in an impoverished center.
Most Sunnis appeared to be voting "no" even after one major party, the Iraqi
Islamic Party, came out in support of the draft because last-minute amendments
promised Sunnis the chance to try to change the charter later.
"We have entered the political process now because our
rights were being usurped by others who have marginalized us," said Sunni Hazem
Jassim, 45, referring to Iraq's other factions.
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