Breakthrough deal struck to win Sunni backing for Iraqi charter

Last-minute talks involving US diplomats persuaded one Sunni political party in Iraq to back a new constitution on Tuesday, just four days before it is put to a referendum.

The Iraqi Islamic Party, one of the more established groups among several claiming to speak for the once dominant Sunni Arab minority that largely boycotted January's election, said it would urge people to back the constitution.

Other parties are yet to agree as they stood firm in the sectarian feud, even as the Shi'ite- and Kurdish-led ruling coalition offered to discuss amending the charter four months after an election in December. The move was intended to soften Sunni opposition.

"It's a breakthrough to win Sunni endorsement for the constitution," one senior government source said. He said that under the deal, to be unveiled on Wednesday by President Jalal Talabani and submitted to parliament, a mechanism would be built in to the constitution to provide for a renegotiation of certain elements in the first four months of the new legislature that will be elected on December 15.

Though it is too late to change the text distributed to voters, officials have said throughout negotiations diplomats that any changes to the charter could be advertised to voters through television.

Meanwhile, Al Jazeera reported that the Iraqi Islamic Party denied that they requested Arab Sunnis to vote “yes” to the constitution. They said they await the approval of other parties on the content of this constitution that allows for renegotiation of certain subjects.

Tarek Al Hashimi, spokesman for the Islamic Party said in an interview with Al Jazeera that it is too soon to tell whether his party will vote positively towards the constitution (before amendments to the constitution are made in a legally acceptable way to strengthen the agreement).

He added, the Party’s stance rests on the approval of other sects/parties on adding the ‘element’ that deals with or allows for amending the constitution.

But Iyad Al Samrai, a member of the Islamic Party, said earlier that an agreement had been reached that allows for amendments to be made to the constitution in December. He also added that the party, therefore, would vote “yes” to the constitution.