  
| 
| ||||||||||||||
Gunmen kill Sunni member of constitution panelIraqi president: Draft constitution to be ready soon
RELATED
SPECIAL REPORT
• Interactive: Who's who in Iraq
• Interactive: Sectarian divide
• Timeline: Bloodiest days for civilians
YOUR E-MAIL ALERTSBAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Gunmen on Tuesday shot dead a Sunni Arab member of the committee drafting Iraq's new constitution, authorities said. Attackers ambushed Dr. Mijbil Ali Hussein al-Sheikh Issa in the Karrada section of Baghdad along with an aide who authorities identified as Dhamin al-Ubeydi. A third unidentified person also died in the attack. The Iraqi prime minister's office strongly condemned the incident. "This terrorist crime only shows that these terrorist groups have no logic directing them nor principles nor political alibi and have no method of negotiating but killing and intimidating," the office said in a statement. The killings came the same day that transitional President Jalal Talabani's office announced that the first draft of the constitution will be ready in late July or early August. The country's transitional National Assembly has until mid-August to draft the document. It is to be put to a national referendum in October. According to Talabani's spokesman, the initial draft of the constitution will meet that deadline and be on display for the Iraqi public to read on August 15. The transitional government's task of creating a system representing all segments of the country's diverse population has been made more difficult by having to deal daily with a violent insurgency. In an effort to include more Sunnis in the new Shiite- and Kurd-dominated government, the committee drafting Iraq's constitution added 15 Sunni members to its ranks earlier this month. A majority of Sunni Arabs -- who dominated Iraq under ousted leader Saddam Hussein -- boycotted the January 30 elections, resulting in a scant 17-member representation in the 275-seat National Assembly. Sunnis are 20 percent of the population in Iraq, while Shiites make up about 60 percent. The original constitutional committee of 55 members included only two Sunni Arabs, prompting criticism from many Iraqis that the government had to add more Sunnis to the political process. 13 killed in drive-by shootingInsurgent gunmen northeast of Baghdad in Diyala province killed 10 people Tuesday when they opened fire on a minibus, police said. It swerved out of control and crashed into a car, killing three other people in the second vehicle. The minibus was filled with civilian workers from a U.S. military base in Khalis, police said. The driver was wounded in the attack. Khalis is about 37 miles (60 km) northeast of Baghdad. Weapons cache foundIn eastern Mosul on Monday, a man who was previously detained by authorities helped U.S. troops and police find explosives that could have been used against coalition forces. The man led a U.S. Army brigade and police to a farm house, where they found at least seven improvised explosive devices that were ready for use as weapons. Soldiers and police also found other equipment commonly used by insurgents. Members of the Army's Stryker Brigade and Iraqi police found two separate stashes at the site. The first consisted of three long barrels buried under 2 feet of dirt, and the second was found in a freezer that was also buried under 2 feet of dirt. CNN's Jane Arraf and Cal Perry accompanied the soldiers and police on the raid, and counted at least seven improvised explosive devices, known as IEDs, 10 AK-47 rifles and other machine guns, 10 rocket-propelled grenade rounds and launchers, one anti-tank mine and two anti-tank grenades. Also found were 20 artillery shells, 10 60 mm mortar rounds, ammunition, blasting caps, a variety of cell phones and cell phone batteries, which often are used to trigger the IEDs. IED materials found include 25 to 30 detonators and additional material to produce 50 more detonators. Also discovered at the site were ceremonial beheading hoods and a pamphlet that explained how to conduct attacks on coalition forces. The owner of the farm was questioned and released. Members of the Stryker Brigade said it's common to see insurgents rent these kinds of dwellings because they don't want to stay in one place for too long and risk detection. The weapons cache was the third uncovered in Mosul in the past 24 hours, Army officials said. Other developmentsCNN's Enes Dulami and Alphonso Van Marsh in Cairo, Egypt, contributed to this report. 
|
| ||||||||||||||
| © 2007 Cable News Network. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us. Site Map. |
 |
|
External sites open in new window; not endorsed by CNN.com
Pay service with live and archived video. 
