BAGHDAD, Sept 25: Iraqi lawmakers on Monday voted unanimously to form a committee to amend the constitution, expressing the hope to agree on a document to unite the war-torn country’s feuding communities.

Iraq is riven by fighting between rival Sunni and Shia Arab factions and the Kurdish minority’s dream of independence has only been put on hold while parliament debates plans for a federation of autonomous provinces.

Over 100 people are killed every day in sectarian and political violence and Iraq’s government of national unity relies on a fractious coalition of bitterly-divided parties.

Lawmakers are to begin debating a draft law on Tuesday which would split Iraq into federal regions on largely ethnic and sectarian lines, confirming Kurdish autonomy and creating an oil-rich Shia homeland.

But before that can happen— and lawmakers agreed Sunday that, even if passed, the law could not come into effect for at least 18 months— Sunni members have insisted on reviewing the year-old constitution.

On Monday parliament set up a 27-member committee, on which no party will wield a majority, to review the founding document, which Iraqi leaders hoped would put an end to the fighting that erupted after the fall of Saddam Hussein.—AFP