Voting for the constitution starts

The Iraqi detainees who were not brought to trial started voting on the draft constitution inside jails. This was two days before the date set for the general referendum.

The Iraqi human rights ministry said that the voting started on Thursday in all jails falls under the Iraqi and American administration including Abu Ghreib jail, noting that special committees are supervising the voting operations.

However, the independent elections committee which supervises the elections has not announced if the toppled President Saddam Hussein had voted on the constitution or not, as his trial has not started yet.

In another development, the Iraqi authorities decided to close the borders as from midnight Thursday. This is within a series of measures to ensure the safety of the expected referendum.

The US welcomed what the parties reached in agreement over the new Iraqi constitution. An agreement the Iraqi Islamic Party announced approving off to undermine the Sunni- Arab consensus to reject the constitution.