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Iraqi Parliament Faces Constitution Deadline
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(http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=E9A4F5:3919ACA

Formal session postponed briefly as ethnic and religious groups
continued negotiations Iraq's political leaders have yet to reach
agreement on a new national constitution, as a deadline for submitting
it to parliament draws near.







(left to right) Shiite Muslim leader Abdul-Aziz Al-Hakim, Prime
Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Kurdish leader Massoud Barazani, Iraqi
President Jalal Talabani, and Deputy Prime Minister Roj Nuri Shaways
discuss constitution SundayIraqi lawmakers announced a two-hour
postponement of a meeting to consider the country's new constitution
Monday, as representatives from Iraq's divided ethnic and religious
groups continued negotiations over the document.

Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish leaders remain split on several issues,
including the role of Islam in the state, and the distribution of
power between the central and regional governments.

Parliament has mandated a Monday deadline for the committee drafting
the constitution to finish its work. Some Shi'ite and Kurdish leaders
have suggested they may submit a draft to parliament even if Sunni
leaders object.

Meanwhile, a suicide bomber wounded at least 11 people Monday when he
blew himself up in a Baghdad restaurant. A mortar shell that hit an
Interior Ministry building in eastern Baghdad also wounded several
people.

In a separate incident, Iraqi authorities say they found the bodies of
30 people, including two women, in a mass grave 20 kilometers south of
Baghdad.


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