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Iraq accedes to U.S. on constitution

Iraqis read a draft of the country's constitution in Baghdad on Wednesday. Iraq's National Assembly voted to reverse last-minute changes it had made to rules for next week's referendum on a new constitution. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Matthew Schofield Knight Ridder
Iraqis read a draft of the country's constitution in Baghdad on Wednesday. Iraq's National Assembly voted to reverse last-minute changes it had made to rules for next week's referendum on a new constitution. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Just 10 days before a referendum on Iraq’s proposed new constitution, the National Assembly on Wednesday again changed the rules for its approval, going back to the original plan that would allow the constitution to be rejected if two-thirds of voters in three provinces vote no.

The change came after intense pressure from the United States and the United Nations.

Many Iraqi lawmakers said they were reluctant to agree to it out of fear that an expected increase in violence would keep many supporters of the constitution from voting and allow a relatively small number of opponents to defeat it.

That violence was evident Wednesday throughout the country. In the bloodiest attack, a bomb exploded during evening prayer at a Shiite mosque in Hilla, home of ancient Babylon, interrupting the first day of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting and reflection (Sunnis began celebrating Ramadan on Tuesday). The blast killed at least 25 people and injured 87, according to police sources, and caused the mosque to collapse.

Politicians said they took steps earlier this week to make approval of the constitution easier out of concern that a combination of Ramadan, the referendum vote and U.S. and Iraqi crackdowns on expected insurgent strongholds would increase violence and keep people from the polls on Oct. 15.

Shiite and Kurdish members of the National Assembly approved Monday a measure that would require two-thirds of all registered voters in three provinces to have voted “no” for the constitution to be rejected. Previously, the standard had been two-thirds of those who actually voted.

But the change was denounced as undemocratic by Sunni politicians as well as the United Nations and others, and Wednesday, the National Assembly reversed itself. Many remained unhappy about changing back.