Why Iraq's Sunnis fear constitution

The current draft constitution on the table specifically outlaws Hussein's old Baath party, which many Sunnis interpret as an effort to target them as a community.

Shiites have also been pushing for a strong role for their clerics in advising Iraq's lawmakers. The current draft contains language banning any law "that violates the sharia," and opens the door to Shiite religious leaders helping to set the law of the land.

Many Sunnis say they feel the ruling Shiite political parties are simply fronts for Iranian interests. They fear that the party militias, and even the government police and army, single Sunnis out for arrests or worse as revenge for the years that Hussein's Sunni-dominated government persecuted Shiites.

Since January's elections, Iraqi politics has been divided sharply along religious and ethnic lines. But average Sunnis are resounding in their call for unity and to wipe out labels like Sunni, Shiite, or Kurd.

"We don't differentiate between Sunni and Shiite," says Khalid Hamid, a Sunni. The politicians "talk about unity of all Iraq but they stimulate the sectarian divisions." Sunnis across the board say they would vote against any constitution that includes federalism or specific language about the Baath.

The constitution now being drafted is scheduled to go to a national referendum on Oct. 15. If two-thirds of the people in any three provinces vote against it, the document will be dissolved and new elections will be held to form a national assembly and draft a new constitution.

But all the concerns now swirling around the Sunni community have made many determined to turn out in force in the next national elections scheduled for December.

"Sunnis made a mistake by not participating in the elections," says Mustafa Ali Kareem al-Bayati, a Sunni living in north- eastern Baghdad.

He says there are banners in his neighborhood encouraging people to vote and he says he will be sure to. "Our destiny will be decided in these days."

Indeed, what most Sunnis want now is for the constitutional process to stop, and for new elections to be held, which they expect would yield them more influence. "We want the constitution to include all Iraqis. If this fails it's a good thing. It will give the Sunnis another chance," says Mustafa Ali Kareem, a Sunni.

The unanimity of average Sunni opinion is startling but that unity in thinking has not produced a leader that Sunnis say they can stand behind. Groups like the Iraqi Islamic Party or individual Sunni politicians who are speaking as Sunni representatives in constitution talks find little popular support.

Most average Sunnis say all they want from a leader is equal treatment and, when pressed, many say former prime minister Iyad Allawi - a secular Shiite but a former member of the Baath party - is the politician closest to their views.

"We don't look for a leader to be a Sunni to lead us. We want someone like Iyad Allawi. Their ethnicity is not important. [We want someone] who fulfills the dreams of Iraqis, it doesn't matter who he is. Someone to take care of security and electricity," says Yasser Kaha Ibrahim, a Sunni administrative worker.

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