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Iraq's President Urges Iraqis to Back Draft Constitution


Iraq's interim President Jalal Talabani is urging Iraqis to support a draft constitution presented on Sunday to parliament.

In Baghdad, the president said the charter is the first in which all of the Iraqi people have had a voice. He said he is optimistic it will be approved in a referendum set to be held by October 15th.

Hours earlier, negotiators presented the final draft to parliament, capping weeks of contentious debate among Shi'ite, Kurdish and Sunni Arab delegates.

Minority Sunni Arab negotiators say they reject the document because of federalism provisions providing autonomy for Shi'ites in oil-rich southern Iraq.

Shi'ites have proposed bringing nine Shi'ite majority provinces into a single autonomous federation similar to that of Kurds in the north. Sunnis say they fear a Shi'ite federation will align itself with Iran and leave them isolated.

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