BAGHDAD, Oct 14: Sunni religious figures urged their followers on Friday to vote ‘No’ in Iraq’s constitutional referendum, even though a Sunni party has broken with the rejectionist camp to support the US-backed charter.

On the eve of the vote, the imams used Friday prayers to appeal for calm and Sunni unity as some Iraqis took to the streets to condemn the Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP) for striking a deal with Shia and Kurdish government leaders.

“Although we reject this constitution and we call for a ‘No’ vote, we must take other opinions into consideration. And we will not treat the others like infidels because of their opinions,” Mahmoud al Sumaidae told worshippers at western Baghdad’s Um al Qura mosque.

Iraqi government officials have urged people to vote ‘Yes’ in Saturday’s referendum on a constitution which has deepened divisions.

Further calls for unity among Sunnis came from the Abu Hanifa mosque in the Adhamiya area of Baghdad, where guerillas are active.

“We must not judge others even if they made a mistake. Does this mean they have become infidels and traitors and we have to treat them badly?,” said Ahmed al Taha.

“Don’t focus too much on the constitution. The most important thing is to concentrate on our unity.”

Despite the appeal, hundreds of Iraqis gathered in front of the mosque to protest against the charter and the IIP.

“No to the constitution. No to the occupation. No to deceiving the people,” read one banner.

Sunnis have gradually moved closer to the political process since their boycott of January elections left them sidelined in the new Iraq. But their lack of a united leadership has weakened their negotiating position.

Militants have in recent days turned their fury on the IIP, attacking four of its offices and distributing leaflets accusing it of collaboration. No casualties have been reported.

In the former guerilla stronghold of Falluja in the Sunni heartland of Anbar province, cleric Mahmoud Abdullah told 500 people at the Mustafa mosque to oppose ‘a dangerous draft written by the Americans to divide Iraq’.

He interpreted the deal with the IIP as a ploy to break opposition to the constitution.

“The Iraqi Islamic Party made a big mistake. The Islamic party is trying to gain a political position regardless of the future of Iraq,” said Mahmoud Abdullah.

Important religious leaders of Iraq’s Shias have urged their followers to vote ‘Yes’ to the constitution — an exhortation that was repeated in numerous Shia mosques on Friday. –Reuters