Iraq approves final draft of new constitution

Iraq's parliament approved a final draft of a new constitution Sunday and submitted it to the United Nations, which will print five million copies and distribute it around the country.

Hussain al-Shahristani, the deputy speaker of parliament, told reporters it was an absolute final draft of the constitution before it is put to a referendum on October 15.

"There is no way there will be any changes now," Shahristani said. "The draft is being submitted to the United Nations and will be presented to the Iraqi people soon."

The document has been held up repeatedly in recent weeks by several last-minute amendments, mainly due to objections by the country's Sunni Arab minority.

The final draft makes some small concessions to the Sunnis - including mentioning that Iraq was a founder member of the Arab League. It also resolved a minor dispute over who had responsibility for Iraq's water supply.

But the document still largely reflects the views of the Shi'ite majority and the Kurds, who control parliament having comfortably won elections in January.

The UN official in charge of printing the document, Nicholas Haysom, confirmed the final draft had been received and said printing would begin right away. The copies are due to be distributed ahead of the referendum.

He said the first copies would be handed out in about five days, with all 5 million copies run off by the end of September.

Angered that more concessions were not made, some Sunni Muslim political and religious leaders have urged Sunnis to register to vote in the referendum and plan to mount a "No" campaign with a view to defeating it.

Third MP assassinated

A Kurdish MP was shot dead in a road ambush on Saturday, the third lawmaker to be assassinated since the January 30 general elections.

Fares Naser Hussein was killed and his colleague Hayder Kasim Shenshu wounded in the attack in which their driver and a bodyguard also died, an Interior Ministry official said.

The ambush took place near Mushahadah, some 30 kilometres north of the capital, as the two members of the Kurdish list in parliament were heading towards Baghdad.

Sharistani condemned the attack and asked MPs to observe a one-minute silence in honour of their dead colleague.

Another 11 Iraqis, including eight members of the security forces, were killed in attacks Sunday, officials said.

On Saturday, a series of anti-Shi'ite attacks continued with a car bomb ripping through a crowded market in a predominantly Shi'ite suburb of Baghdad, killing 30 people and wounding 38 others.

Source: China Daily