US urges Iraqi Sunnis to continue constitution drafting

The United States on Wednesday called for Iraq's Sunni Arabs to rejoin the country's constitutional drafting commission, after four Sunni officials quit in the wake of the assassination of three colleagues.

"Obviously, since these incidents, there have been concerns expressed about the safety and security of the Sunni members of the constitutional commission. I think those concerns are certainly understandable," State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said.

"But we all look forward to the work of the committee continuing," Ereli said, expressing hopes that the Sunnis would continue to support the drafting process.

On Tuesday, gunmen shot and killed three Iraq constitution panelists as they left a Baghdad restaurant.

The assassinations occurred hours after Iraqi President Jalal Talabani predicted the likely completion of the constitution ahead of schedule.

The charter is due to be finalized by August 15 and put to a national referendum by October 15, according to the Transitional Administrative Law, which stands as an interim constitution for the country.

Source: Xinhua