Iraqi constitution approved, Sunni leaders doubt results

The Iraqi constitution has been approved according to the responsible election agency, amid statements by some that the results of the vote in some critical voting areas were falsified.

US President George W. Bush commended the "bravery" of the Iraqi people who approved the new Iraqi constitution, but warned that winning the war for which support is diminishing among the Americans will need more sacrifices.

With the increasing number of American soldiers killed in Iraq reaching 2000 and the possibility that this number will be increasing, Bush rejected the calls for the withdrawal of the American forces from Iraq. He said that such a withdrawal will permit the leader of al-Qaida organization Osama Bin Laden the opportunity to direct attacks against Europe, the USA and Israel.

He stressed that the war needs more sacrifices, and more time and determination. Bush added in a speech he delivered in an air base in Washington that the "best way to honor the sacrifices of our soldiers who fell there is to complete the mission."

For his part, the British foreign office secretary Jack Straw said that the Iraqis, once again, showed their determination to defeat terrorists and take part in the political process and considered this as an important steps in the process of developing a stable and democratic Iraq."

In Baghdad, Sunni leaders said that the approval of the constitution cheated the Iraqis and that citizens of this country will not accept a constitution conducive to the partition of their country.

The Sunni leader Saleh al-Mutlaq, spokesman for the Iraqi national dialogue council said "the constitution has failed in the eyes as well as hearts of the Iraqis, and means nothing for the Iraqis.

Al-Mutlaq called for another vote on the constitution in Ninwa city and other cities, and he thought a huge falsification took place and resulted in the change of the negative result of the constitution.

The "independent higher commission for the elections" announced the approval of the draft constitution referendum of October 15th, noting that the rate of support was 78% against 21% for opposition.

The commission said that the governorate of Ninwa opposed the draft constitution but at a margin that has not reached two thirds, which would have failed the referendum; after it was overwhelmingly rejected by the voters in the governorates of Salah Eddine and al-Anbar.