BAGHDAD, Oct 17: Six Shia-dominated provinces in southern Iraq have voted by more than 90 per cent to approve the country’s draft constitution, initial figures provided on Monday by the independent electoral commission showed.

But two largely Sunni provinces had voted against, although one was by less than a key two-thirds majority, commission spokesman Farid Ayyar said.

The charter, which aims to lay a foundation for Iraq as it moves beyond Saddam Hussein, requires a simple majority to pass, but will nevertheless be rejected if two-thirds of voters in three or more governorates vote against.

The mainly Shia provinces of Basra, Dhi Qar, Karbala, Misan, Najaf and Wasit all voted massively in favour of the charter, Mr Ayyar said.

But two Sunni-dominated provinces rejected the text, by 80 per cent in Salaheddin and by 54 per cent in Diyala, so the results from four other Sunni-dominated provinces in western and northern Iraq are crucial.

The tally from volatile western Al Anbar and northern Nineveh, which includes the mixed city of Mosul, were not yet known, Mr Ayyar said.

—AFP