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BAGHDAD, Oct 7: Iraqi authorities began on Friday handing out millions of copies of a draft constitution in time for next week’s hotly contested referendum on the post Saddam Hussein charter.
British forces, grappling with increased attacks on their troops in southern Iraq, announced the arrest of 12 Shia militiamen and expressed grave concern that some of the detained were serving police officers.
Many households received their copy of the proposed constitution along with subsidised foodstuffs in exchange for state-issued ration tickets, but the text was also available in public buildings, hospitals, universities and even jails. Up to five million copies were to be printed with the help of the United Nations before the Oct 15 referendum.
“The printing is rolling slower than expected but we will be able to finish by October 14,” a senior official in charge of the process said Thursday.
The target of five million copies might not be met, however, “because of the extremely limited timeframe. We will probably reach 3.5 million” in Arabic and one million in Kurdish, said the official who asked to remain anonymous.
UN funding provided for an additional 400,000 copies in Turkomen and Assyrian, languages spoken by significant minorities of Iraqis.
“There’s a huge demand. Iraqis want to read the constitution, whether they favour or oppose it,” the official said, adding that some Iraqis were going straight to printing shops to get their copies.
29 KILLED: In western Iraq, US forces killed at least 29 rebels in fighting between late Wednesday and early Friday, the military said.
Multinational force aircraft killed 20 when they bombed a hotel in Husaybah, near the Syrian border, which had been taken over by rebels loyal to Al Qaeda in Iraq, a US military statement said.
Six US marines were killed in the fighting late Thursday, bringing to at least 1,946 the number of US military personnel killed in Iraq since the US-led invasion in March 2003 according to an AFP tally based on Pentagon figures.
