Iraq Finishes New Constitution(Sunnis protest in Tikrit)

[maddezmom]

By ROBERT H. REID, Associated Press Writer
3 minutes ago



BAGHDAD, Iraq - Thousands of Sunni demonstrators rallied in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit on Monday to denounce Iraq's new constitution a day after negotiators finished the new charter without the endorsement of Sunni Arabs.

Sunni leaders have urged their community to defeat the charter in a nationwide referendum on Oct. 15, saying it had been rammed through the drafting committee by the dominant Shiite Arab and Kurdish alliance.

The absence of Sunni endorsement, after more than two months of intensive negotiations, raised fears of more violence and set the stage for a bitter political fight ahead of the referendum. A political battle threatened to sharpen communal divisions at a time when relations among the Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds appear to be worsening.

In Tikrit, at least 2,000 protesters assembled near the office of the Association of Muslims Scholars — a hardline Sunni clerical group opposed to the U.S. occupation — carrying Iraqi flags and portraits of the former dictator.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050829/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq;_

[IndianaGreen]

1. Demonstrators denounced the “Jewish constitution.”

They carried pictures of Shiite clerics Muqtada Al-Sadir and Jawad Al-Khalisi who have joined the Sunnis in opposing the constitutional draft.

Sheik Yahya Ibrahim Al-Batawi, an organizer of the protest, read a statement denouncing the “Jewish constitution,” saying its goal was to divide Iraq along sectarian and ethnic lines.

Sunni negotiators delivered their rejection in a joint statement Sunday shortly after the draft was submitted to parliament. They branded the final version as “illegitimate” and asked the Arab League and the United Nations to intervene.

“I think if this constitution passes as it is, it will worsen everything in the country,” said Saleh al-Mutlaq, a Sunni negotiator.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9084376/

What about Bush and Blair's optimistic pronouncements of yesterday in which they praised the new constitution? Don't these Iraqis watch Faux News? Everything is peachy in Iraq and, according to Bush, the troops will remain there until the job is done.

Civil war anyone?

[annabanana]

2. Damn! Good Job Georgie-boy!

Now that the Kurds and Shi'ite have cut the Sunnis out of the only marketable thing in Iraq...the Sunnis will be happy to be slaves in their own country:sarcasm: