Iraqi religious leaders criticize interim constitution

By: Hamoud Kufi

BAGHDAD, Iraq: Iraqi clerics on Friday severely criticized the new interim constitution reiterating their concerns over the text, which they fear gives too much power to the Kurds.

In the holy city of Najaf, 160 kilometers (100 miles) from Baghdad, religious leader Sadreddin Kubanji censured the “weakness” of the document and said the power it gives Kurds “threatens the unity of the country.”

Cleric Moqtada Sadr likened the text to a British declaration inviting Jews to settle in Palestine in 1917. “This constitution is like the Balfour Declaration that sold Palestine. We are selling Iraq and Islam. This is a bad signal to send,” he told the faithful at a mosque in Kufa.

In Baghdad Sadr-City, Imam Sheikh Nasir Al-Sa'adi also denounced the newly signed interim Iraqi constitution. Later, thousands of Sadr's supporters held a rally against the constitution.

In another development, US and British firms won two contracts worth 1.1 billion dollars to help rebuild Iraq, and Washington is set to award more deals to companies from countries that supported the war soon, according to officials.

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