Sunnis say they've been left out of talks
(AP)
Updated: 2005-08-21 11:10

Al-Mutlaq alleged that the Americans, Shiites and Kurds were cutting deals and "we have no idea what is going on." He complained that Sunni negotiators were being sidelined "after we convinced the (Sunni) people to take part in the political process through mosque preachers, who used to condemn such participation."

A U.S. soldier assigned to the 42nd Military Police Brigade was killed Saturday in a roadside bombing, the U.S. military said. At least 1,865 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

Also Saturday, about 5,000 people gathered outside the main mosque in the insurgent stronghold of Ramadi to condemn the constitutional process. And in the northern oil city of Kirkuk several hundred Sunni Arabs demonstrated against the charter, chanting "Yes to unity, no to federalism."

On Friday, three members of the largest Sunni Arab political party were abducted by gunmen in Mosul as they were hanging posters urging Sunnis to register to vote. The gunmen drove them to a mosque, forced them against a wall and shot them dead in front of horrified witnesses.

Police said one of the cars used in the kidnapping was confiscated Saturday after a shootout in which three insurgents were killed. It was unclear if those three insurgents were part of the assassination team, police said.

Shiites and Kurds have enough seats in the 275-member parliament to push through a constitution without Sunni approval, but doing so would risk a backlash from the community at the forefront of the insurgency. One of the main U.S. goals was to have the Iraqis produce a constitution to satisfy everyone involved and that would, in time, lure Sunnis away from the insurgency.

Once the constitution is approved by parliament, it will go to the voters in a national referendum Oct. 15. However, if two-thirds of the voters in three of the 18 provinces reject the constitution, it will be defeated.

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