Interior Ministers of the neighbouring countries to Iraq wave from the balcony of the Ciragan Palace in Istanbul, 19 July 2005 (REUTERS)
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Several Sunni Arab members of the team drafting Iraq”s new constitution have suspended their membership following the assassination of two of their colleagues, a spokesman said on Wednesday.
The suspension could complicate the task of drafting the charter by a mid-August deadline.
Salih al-Mutlaq, spokesman for the Iraqi National Dialogue, a Sunni Arab umbrella group, said four of its members on the drafting committee had suspended their membership. Two National Dialogue members also on the team were killed on Tuesday.
"The environment in Iraq isn”t right for anyone to get work done," Mutlaq told Reuters when asked why the action had been taken.
Another official on the committee said all 15 Sunni Arab members of the 71-member body had suspended their membership, but that could not immediately be confirmed.
The constitution drafting committee was due to hold a news conference later on Wednesday to lay out the progress made so far in drawing up the document.
Hours before Tuesday”s killings, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said he hoped the draft constitution could be ready early — by the end of this month — if Sunni concerns could be quickly addressed.
Fifteen Sunni members joined the committee last month, making it the first nationwide political body to include significant Sunni Arab representation since the new government, led by Shi”ites and Kurds, took office in April.
The inclusion of a significant number of Sunni Arabs on the committee raised hopes that it would sap strength from the largely Sunni Arab-led insurgency.
Members of the committee say discussions have been held up by questions that divide Iraqis on sectarian and ethnic lines — above all, questions of how to split resources and political power for regions such as the Kurdish north that want autonomy.
Amid Iraq”s continuing violence, there had been some hope the constitution committee could quickly produce a document the authorities could begin pitching to the public. The charter has to be approved in a national referendum by mid-October.
Turkish Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu (C) addresses the opening session of the Interior Ministers of the Countries Neighboring Iraq meeting in Istanbul, 19 July 2005, (EPA)
Iraqi Interior Minister Beyan Solag Jabour El-Zubeydi listens to the opening speech during the meeting of Ministers of Interior of Countries Neighbouring Iraq at Ciragan Palace in Istanbul, July 19 2005 (AFP)