Sunnis threaten to scuttle charter

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Top Sunni Muslim Arab leaders lashed out Tuesday against a draft constitution given to the Iraqi parliament the day before, threatening to mobilize voters against it in an October referendum that could split the nation even further along sectarian lines.

Shiite Muslim politicians from the majority group that controls Iraq’s government said they wanted to work out a deal with the Sunnis, but that they planned to push the constitution through the parliament later this week and then present it to the Iraqi public for a vote with or without Sunni agreement.

If the Sunnis are successful in getting two-thirds of the voters in three of Iraq’s provinces to vote against the constitution, it would scuttle the document and start the process over again, probably angering the Shiites, who are eager to assume control in a nation where they were oppressed for more than 30 years. If the Sunnis aren’t successful, it could further alienate a minority population that’s already the base of an insurgency that’s killed thousands.

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, in Washington, dismissed the idea that Sunni opposition to the constitution could spark a civil war.

President Bush, traveling in Idaho, praised the Iraqi effort to draw up a constitution. “The fact that Iraq will have a democratic constitution that honors women’s rights, the rights of minorities, is going to be an important change in the broader Middle East,” Bush said.

Neither Sunni nor Shiite leaders were optimistic Tuesday that a deal on the constitution could be struck.

At issue are problems that have long bedeviled the nation:

• Distribution of oil revenues. The Kurds to the north and the Shiites to the south are in areas rich in oilfields. The Sunnis in central and western Iraq are not. The Kurds and Shiites want the provinces to retain more control of oil and gas proceeds than has previously been the case, wresting power from the central government in Baghdad. The constitution says the issue of oil distribution will be decided in the future. It also says, though, that when there are disputes between provincial and federal laws, “the priority will be for the provincial law.”

• Baath Party. Sunnis are furious that Shiites and Kurds inserted language naming the Baath Party a terrorist organization. Many Sunnis see the party, that of former dictator Saddam Hussein, as an Arab nationalist organization that was subverted by Saddam’s thirst for power. Membership was often compulsory for Iraqis seeking government or white-collar positions.

• Islam. The draft says no law in Iraq can contradict Islamic law. Despite language that also says laws can’t contradict human rights or democracy, Sunnis worry that Shiite clerics will decide what contradicts Islam. They fear this could create a de facto theocracy, similar to neighboring Iran.