BAGHDAD, Aug 28: Iraq’s Shia-dominated parliament on Sunday completed its work on a constitution, which was at once rejected by Sunnis, who said it would be thrown out in an October referendum.

The text read to parliament failed to overcome objections by Sunnis, who lost their political dominance with the fall of president Saddam Hussein, despite intense US efforts to broker a compromise between Iraq’s divided ethnic and religious groups.

The United States and Britain, who see approval of a constitution as key to defusing the resistance, welcomed the draft, hailing it as a victory for democracy over extremism.

Rejection in the three of Iraq’s 18 provinces dominated by Sunnis would be enough to torpedo the constitution under current referendum rules, but President Jalal Talabani urged Iraqis to vote ‘Yes’ in the referendum — due by Oct 15.

“We hope that this constitution will be accepted by all Iraqis and that it will be for everybody. We are optimistic ... For sure there is no book that is perfect and cannot be amended except the holy Quran,” Mr Talabani, a former Kurdish guerrilla leader who fought Saddam Hussein, said at a news conference.

A Sunni delegate on the drafting committee said all his colleagues on the panel objected to the draft.

“We have not agreed on this constitution. We have objections which are the same as we had from day one,” Hussein al Falluji, the Sunni delegate, said.

“If there is no forging of the results, I believe the people will say ‘No’ to the ‘American’ constitution,” he said.

US President George Bush on Sunday touted the merits of Iraq’s new constitution, but acknowledged Sunni opposition and that the referendum could spark a new wave of violence.—Reuters