Prometheus 6

Sistani says Iraq constitution a 'dead end'
Iraq's top Shiite leader threatens not to cooperate if UN endorses interim constitution.
by Matthew Clark

Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has intensified his opposition to the country's interim constitution. Mr. Sistani sent a letter to the UN envoy in Iraq, Lakhdar Brahimi, saying that flaws in the constitution "will lead to a dead end and bring the country into an unstable situation and perhaps lead to its partition and division."

In the letter, Sistani said he will not participate in meetings with UN officials if the Security Council endorses the US-backed interim constitution, MSNBC reports. The Shiite leader also said he would boycott the UN mission "unless the United Nations takes a clear stance that the constitution does not bind the National Assembly and is not mentioned in any new Security Council resolution concerning Iraq."

Among Sistani's main concerns is the consitution's heavy emphasis on ethnic and religious differences. "This constitution that gives the presidency in Iraq to a three-member council, a Kurd, a Sunni Arab and a Shiite Arab, enshrines sectarianism and ethnicity in the future political system in the country," his letter said.