Iraq's draft constitution expected Sunday

BAGHDAD, Aug. 13 (UPI) -- Iraq's interim President Jalal Talabani said Saturday he expected a consensus on the country's new draft constitution to be finalized Sunday.

He told reporters in Baghdad that "great strides have been made and we hope to finalize the remaining points tomorrow, Sunday."

Political leaders met for a third consecutive day Saturday to iron out differences regarding the constitution, which was set to be completed by Aug. 15 and put to a vote in a national referendum before the general elections at the end of this year.

A member of a commission drawing up the document, Sami al-Askari, said, "The road has been paved for a final agreement on the points of differences in the draft constitution" after Shiite and Kurdish leaders agreed on three main issues.

He said that all parties in the constitution commission, including the Arab Sunnis, agreed to name the country the "Federal Republic of Iraq" and for the Kurdish Peshmerga militia to be part of the Kurdish region and not part of the Iraqi army.

Al-Askari added it was also decided that the fate of the oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk will be determined by Dec. 15.

The Kurds are trying to include Kirkuk in the Kurdistan autonomous region, while the Arabs and Turkmen are seeking to keep it part of Iraq and not allow any one sect to control it.

The Turkmen are another one of Iraq's ethnic minorities.