Sunni group urges changes in Iraq charter

One of Iraq's biggest Arab Sunni parties said on Monday that it might back the country's constitution, but it urged changes to a text agreed by the Shiite-dominated parliament.

U.S. President George W. Bush hailed the draft as a breakthrough, but predicted an October referendum on the document would spark "atrocities" after minority Sunnis, whose community is the seat of the insurgency, rejected the text.

But the Iraqi Islamic Party, seen as moderate Islamist and opposed to violence, said on Monday there was still room for negotiation on the constitution.

"We have not signed the constitution and we still have the time starting from now until the referendum comes," party spokesman Tariq al-Hashemi told a news conference. "We might say yes to the constitution if the disputed points are resolved."

The text read to parliament failed to overcome objections by Sunnis, who lost their political dominance with the fall of Saddam Hussein, despite U.S. efforts to broker a compromise between Iraq's divided ethnic and religious groups.

Hundreds of people marched in Saddam's hometown of Tikrit to protest against the constitution, witnesses said.

They carried photographs of Saddam and held up banners saying "No to the Zionist-American-Iranian constitution." Some Iraqis say the Shiite-led government is too close to Iran.

The BBC quoted Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa as describing the Iraqi draft constitution as "dangerous."

The United States and Britain, who see approval of a constitution as key to defusing an insurgency, welcomed the draft, hailing it as a victory for democracy over extremism.

Sunni opposition:

Rejection in the three of Iraq's 18 provinces dominated by Sunni Arabs would be enough to torpedo the constitution under current referendum rules.

President Jalal Talabani urged Iraqis to vote “Yes” in the referendum, due by Oct. 15, but acknowledged that rejection by Sunni voters was a possibility.

"If they (Sunni voters) do participate, then the constitution will (probably) fail and new elections will have to take place to create a new drafting committee to come up with a new constitution," he told Al Arabiya television.

A Sunni Arab delegate on the drafting committee said all his colleagues on the panel objected to the draft.

"We have not agreed on this constitution. We have objections which are the same as we had from day one," Hussein al-Falluji, the Sunni Arab delegate, told Reuters.

"If there is no forging of the results, I believe the people will say ‘No' to the ‘American' constitution," he said.

Bush said the constitution "contains far-reaching protections for fundamental human freedoms including religion, assembly, conscience and expression.”

But he warned: "We can expect ... atrocities to increase in the coming months because the enemy knows that its greatest defeat lies in the expression of free people in freely enacted laws and at the ballot box."

Opposition, reservations:

Although Iraq's parliament adjourned without a vote, delegates in the Shiite- and Kurdish-dominated assembly said the draft's reading in parliament signified its acceptance.

"We tried hard to include everybody's demands, but this could not be done. Some people are still opposed to some points," said Parliament Speaker Hajim al-Hassani.

"But now we should think of this country and its unity. Whoever wants to change something, then the referendum is the final chance. Iraqis should prepare themselves for elections."

Iraq will hold elections in December after the referendum.

The text read in parliament suggested limited concessions to the Sunnis. Retreating from earlier drafts referring to Saddam's political party, it omitted the phrase "Baath party" and instead banned "the Saddamist Baath and its symbols."

Sunnis had pressed for the removal of any clauses in the draft that bar party members from public life, arguing that not all of them have blood on their hands.

Washington's envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, hailed the document but said he was disappointed by the Sunni reaction.

"I understand their circumstances, they are in a difficult position. There are threats of intimidation, you've seen some of them saying that they like the document, but they're afraid if they openly support it their lives could be at risk."

Sunnis, who largely shunned a January election, giving them little voice in the present interim parliament, are now mobilizing in strength for the referendum and the election.

An editorial in the United Arab Emirates' Al-Khaleej newspaper said: "It seems that the constitution is a fait accompli and will be imposed on Iraq regardless of the objections of the Sunni Arabs."

Anwar Qarqash, columnist in the UAE state-owned al-Ittihad newspaper, said Sunnis only had themselves to blame.

"The constitution is a result of the will of the people. However, this does not include the Sunnis desires because of their widespread boycott of the elections which was clearly a big mistake ... they did not enter politics through the right door -- elections."

Qatari newspaper Asharq urged Iraqis to agree on a constitution that would benefit Iraq as a whole.

"Terms like sectarianism and ethnicism are not conducive to the unity of Iraq and it is not democratic in the least to play on these strings. The constitution should be an Iraqi constitution which benefits all Iraqis."