Iraqi negotiators reached a breakthrough deal on the constitution Tuesday, and at least one Sunni Arab party said it would now urge its followers to approve the charter in this weekend’s referendum.
Under the deal, the two sides agreed that a commission would be set up to consider amendments to the charter that would then be put to a vote in parliament and then submitted to a new referendum next year.
It boosts the chances for a constitution that Shiite and Kurdish leaders support and the U.S. has been eager to see approved in Saturday’s vote to avert months more of political turmoil, delaying plans to start a withdrawal of U.S. forces.
Meanwhile, insurgents determined to wreck Iraq’s constitutional referendum killed more than 40 people and wounded dozens in a series of attacks Tuesday, including a suicide car bomb that ripped apart a crowded market in a town near the Syrian border, police said.
In that attack, a suicide car bomb exploded at about 11 a.m. in a crowded open market in Tal Afar, killing 30 Iraqis and wounding 45, said Tal Afar’s police chief.
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Compiled from news services and edited by Patrick Olsen (polsen@tribune.com) and Drew Sottardi (dsottardi@tribune.com)
