BAGHDAD, Iraq, AP -Members of Iraq”s constitution drafting committee signed the draft charter Sunday after making some minor amendments, but two Sunni Arab negotiators said the Sunni team rejected the final charter.
Mohammed Abed-Rabbou, one of the four principle negotiators on the 15-member Sunni team, said the Sunni officials refused to accept the draft "because the points of disagreement were not amended" to their satisfaction.
Those included proposals to transform Iraq into a federated country and references to Saddam Hussein”s Baath Party.
Another Sunni negotiator, Fakhr al-Qaisi, said the draft was rejected because of wording about "Iraq”s unity, Iraq”s Arab identity."
The comments set the stage for a bitter political battle before the Oct. 15 referendum when Iraqis will decide whether to accept or reject the document.