BAGHDAD, Sept 6: Last-minute talks among Iraqi leaders on the text of a draft constitution have ended without making amendments and printing will start on Thursday, a senior member of the parliamentary drafting team said on Tuesday.

“The talks have ended. We did not reach any agreement on making changes to the draft. It will be printed in the form it was read to the National Assembly last week,” Bahaa al-Araji told Reuters. “No changes will be made.”

Five million copies would be printed, starting on Thursday, he said.

The draft, adopted on Aug 28 by the Shia-Kurdish- dominated parliament despite objections from some minority Sunni Arabs, was supposed to go straight to the printers last week to be circulated to voters.

But informal talks between factions to try to appease Sunni community with minor changes in wording held up the printing.

Some Sunni leaders had said they would campaign for a ‘No’ vote without some amendments in the draft.

“We are sad that this has happened, very sad that they took this decision even though they know what will happen to this country if they pass it in this form,” Saleh al-Mutlak, a senior negotiator for Sunnis said.

“If the constitution gets a ‘Yes’ then Iraqis who reject it will say that the results were falsified. The situation will be bad politically and the security situation might get out of control. If the constitution gets the two thirds ‘No’ in three provinces, sectarian tension will increase.”

“They were really unwise to take this decision.”

If two-thirds of voters in three of Iraq’s 18 provinces cast a ballot against the constitution it will be vetoed and the drafting process will start again under a new interim Assembly to be elected in December. If the constitution is approved, the parliament elected in December will serve a full term.

Sunnis have been concerned at Kurdish and Shia proposals for decentralised power and at Kurdish interests in keeping open the option of secession for their northern mountain region.—Reuters