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Iraqi leaders settle three of 18 constitution issues
 BAGHDAD - Iraqâs political leaders, racing against time to reach consensus on the draft constitution before Mondayâs deadline, have settled three out of 18 outstanding issues, said a source close to the process. âThree points have been settled: the name of Iraq, the question of the peshmerga (or Kurdish militia) and Kirkuk,â the source told AFP on condition of anonymity.Iraq will be officially called âFederal Republic of Iraqâ, and the peshmerga will be considered a security force for the Kurdish-controlled zone of northern Iraq which wants the de facto autonomy established in 1991 enshrined in the new constitution, the source said. As for the northern oil-rich city of Kirkuk, whose demography was altered by Saddam Hussein by expelling Kurds and replacing them with Arabs, the situation should be ânormalisedâ by December 15 at the latest, the source said. Normalisation could revolve around helping thousands of expelled Kurds to return to their lands which were handed to Arabs, mainly Shia from the south, by Saddam. The source did not provide other details. Iraqâs interim constitution had stipulated that the situation in ethnically-mixed Kirkuk should be normalised without giving a deadline. The remaining points of difference, including the question of federalism and the role of Islam in legislation, are still under discussion with a finished draft required to be presented before parliament on August 15. Posted by: Steve White 2005-08-13 |
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