The American Ambassador Delivers 3 Sunni Demands for Amendments

[ECH1969]

The Iraqi president Jalal Talebani announced that the Kurdistani Alliance has received three demands on behalf of the Arab Sunnis to amend the drat of the permanent Iraqi constitution before the date of the plebiscite on the constitution on the 15th of next month. He added that the Kurdistani command would study the demands.

A Kurdish official disclosed that the American ambassador to Baghdad is the one who handed the Sunni demands to the two Kurdish leaders Jalal Talebani and Masud Barzani, president of Kurdistan region.

It is worth mentioning that the Iraqi president was talking in a press conference held in Dukan resort (60 km northwest of Al Sulaimaniyah city) immediately after a threefold meeting with Barzani, and the American ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad.

An official in the Kurdistani national union, which is headed by Talebani, disclosed to the German News Agency (DBA) that Khalilzad has handed the two Kurdish leaders the Sunni demands that are relating to making amendments on some articles of the constitution draft, including demanding for offering guarantees for maintaining the unity of Iraqi lands and not dividing them under the cover of the federation, in addition to granting more competence to the federal government and shrinking the competence granted to the regional governments. The last demand is relating to using the Kurdish language as a formal language in Iraq. The Sunnis demanded for using the Arabic language as the formal language in Kurdistan region.

http://www.almendhar.com/english_6587/news_print.aspx=

[bemildred]

1. "Kurdistani command "?

My. We are moving right along aren't we?

[enigma000]

2. 2 weeks until the referendum

Bit late for amendments at this point.

[Journeyman]

3. Maybe the intent is to vote on a moving target. . .

"Do you support the Constitution as it's written. . . NOW!. . . or do you prefer. . . THIS ONE!"

This way, each Iraqi can wait around until a Constitution closest to what he supports is up for consideration, vote for that one, and the U.S. can claim "overwhelming support" for a Constitution . . . they just won't ever be able to publish the winning document (not enough paper in all the Middle East to print the many-faceted tome that will be approved).

[ECH1969]

4. Iraqi Assembly to Debate Constitution Amendments

Baghdad -- Sources at the Iraqi National Assembly have said that Zalmay Khalilzad, US ambassador to Iraq, has started negotiations aiming to amend the draft constitution to ensure the support of the forces that did not take part in the elections for this draft.

The sources noted that during a visit to the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, a delegation from the US embassy submitted a paper presented to the Kurdish side by the forces that did not participate in the elections. The paper includes demands that the constitution should maintain the unity of Iraq, the Arabic language be used in the Kurdish areas and that the amendment to the constitution take place through a referendum and not through a two-third majority vote of the National Assembly.

The sources added that the United Iraqi Alliance approved the first and second articles should they be agreed on, but would reject holding a referendum to amend the constitution because the UIA believes that this will lead to instability in the country.

Al-Sharqiyah TV has learnt that the National Assembly is expected to hold an extraordinary session convened by Acting Speaker Husayn al-Shahristani today, to discuss these issues.

http://www.aina.org/news/20051001112143.htm

[gratuitous]

5. So our ambassador is now serving as message boy fo the Sunnis?

Well, I guess we can't say that the ambassador is unqualified for that part of his job, at least.