Iraqi Leader Wants Constitution for All

08/24/2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Iraq’s new constitution must be for all the people of Iraq and not for a single community and aspirations of Sunni Arabs should be met, President Jalal Talabani said Wednesday.

Meanwhile, a deputy justice minister escaped assassination Wednesday when gunmen fired at his convoy, killing four of his bodyguards and wounding five, police said. It was the second attempt against Undersecretary Awshoo Ibrahim in as many days.

Speaking after a meeting with parliament Speaker Hajim al-Hassani, Talabani said that the country’s stability cannot be achieved without consensus among Iraq’s Shiites, Sunnis Arabs and Kurds.

Sunni members of the drafting committee opposed several parts of the document, that was handed to parliament Monday, forcing a delay in the parliament’s vote. Their objections include federalism, references to Saddam Hussein’s Sunni-led Baath Party and the description of Iraq as an Islamic - but not Arab - country.


“We will stand, with all our wisdom and strength, against anyone who wants to divide Iraq and fulfill this grand plot against the country,” a major Sunni figure, Adnan al-Dulaimi, told reporters Wednesday. “We are determined to safeguard the unity of Iraq. We call on all Iraqis to work on keeping the unity of the country.”

Talabani, a Kurdish leader, said there is unanimity among all groups to exclude Baath Party members who committed crimes against the people and that the law to purge former members “should take into consideration Iraqi qualifications.”

“Its measures should not include simple Baathists who belonged to the Baath for job necessities,” Talabani said according to a statement released by his office. “The constitution will be to serve everybody and not only one community of the Iraqi society.”

On Tuesday, U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad urged Shiites and Kurds to reach out to Sunni Arabs, who make up about 20 percent of Iraq’s population. He also called the Sunnis to be flexible.

Al-Hassani, a Sunni Arab, said discussions over the draft will continue until Thursday, adding that Sunnis are not against the principle of federalism but “they prefer that its approval and adoption come on stages.”

During his news conference, al-Dulaimi called on the United Nations and the Arab League to intervene to ease the crisis in Iraq.

“We tell the United Nations, the Arab League and human rights activists that Iraq is in crisis and we want them to raise their voices to demand the release of the detainees before the election, so that they can participate in it,” he said.

“We reject federalism in the center and south because it would stand only on a sectarian basis,” he added. “All Iraqis should stand against any one who want to deepen sectarianism in Iraq. Iraq will stay united with Baghdad as the capital. We want the resources to be the property of all Iraqis.”

The leader of the largest Shiite party has called for a federal region in Shiite-dominated areas of central and southern Iraq.

The latest attack occurred at 9 a.m. when gunmen fired on Ibrahim’s motorcade in western Baghdad, said police Capt. Mohammed Khayoun.

The Justice Ministry said Ibrahim escaped an attack in a nearby area Tuesday. Four bodyguards were wounded.

A witness at the scene of the Wednesday, who did not give his name, told Associated Press Television News that the motorcade was attacked by gunmen. The five wounded bodyguards claimed they were shot at by U.S. troops Wednesday.

“American troops opened fire on the three-vehicle Land cruiser convoy without any reason,” Nasir Bayan said from his hospital bed. His four colleagues in the same room also said they were attacked by Americans.

A U.S. Bradley fighting vehicle could been seen in the area after the attack, but spokesmen for Task Force Baghdad said they had no information on the incident.