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Iraq's constitution drafting on track after Sunnis end boycott
www.chinaview.cn 2005-07-26 08:42:15

    BAGHDAD, July 25 (Xinhuanet  by Jiang Xiaofeng, Jamal Hashem ) -- Iraq's Sunni Arab constitution writers agreed to sit at the drafting table again in the run-up toa new charter on Monday after their demands were met while insurgents struck the nascent police again, leaving eight killed and 35 others wounded.

    The last-moment compromise came as the Iraqi parliament met conditions put forward by Sunni groups to end their boycott of the constitution drafting process.

    "All of the demands presented by our brothers have been met," parliament Speaker Hajem al-Hassani said in a statement signed by him, following a week-long Sunni walkout triggered by the murder of three colleagues.

    The Sunnis demanded a thorough investigation into the killings of three Sunni constitution writers last week, improvement of protection measures for Sunnis and a greater Sunni role in composing the charter.

    The statement said a juridical panel will be established to carry out an independent investigation into the killings.

    Sunni Arabs will have the right to demand further measures if they are discontented with the results of the investigation, the statement added, without revealing further details.

    Earlier on Monday, a spokesman of the Iraqi Council of the National Dialogue, a Sunni body, told Xinhua that Sunni Arab members of the committee had ended their boycott.

    "We have just finished our meeting with the presidency of the National Assembly (parliament) which approved all of our demands," confirmed Salih al-Mutlak.

    Last Tuesday, Mejbil al-Sheikh Issa, Aziz Ibrahim and Dhamin Hassan al-Ubaidi were gunned down in central Baghdad, leading to a Sunni walkout in the constitution committee.

    The three were among the 17 Sunni Arab members in the 71-member committee tasked with drafting a permanent constitution by Aug. 15.

    As Sunnis agreed to end the boycott, suicide insurgents torn apart two police checkpoints in separate attacks in Baghdad on Monday, killing eight people and wounding 35 others.

    "A suicide car bomber drove an explosive-laden vehicle at a police checkpoint under the bridge of Harthiyah neighborhood at the edge of the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, killing two and wounding 11 others," a police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

    Fourteen other civilians were also wounded in the blast, according to another police source, adding that the wounded were evacuated to Yarmouk Hospital for medical treatment.

    Earlier in the day, another suicide bomber drove a minibus into a checkpoint outside al-Sadir Hotel in central Baghdad shortly after the dawn, killing six people and wounding 10 others," an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua.

    The source said most of the victims were Iraqi employees working for a security firm guarding the building. Enditem

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