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U.S. Ambassador Forecasts 'Edits' To Iraqi Draft

30 August 2005 -- U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad said today that he believes there could be more changes to Iraq's draft constitution.

Khalilzad was speaking two days after Shi'ite and Kurdish negotiators pronounced the draft "final" despite objections by Sunni negotiators.

Although the law does not allow the draft to be amended, Khalilzad said there can be what he called "edits" to the text. He said he believes a "final, final" draft has not yet emerged.

Khalilzad spoke alongside prominent Sunni leader Adnan al-Dulaimi. Al-Dulaimi urged Sunnis to reject the constitution as it is now written in a scheduled 15 October referendum.

Elsewhere in Iraq, the U.S. military said today in a statement that it bombed what it called "terrorist safe houses" near the Iraqi border with Syria. Local reports said the strikes killed more than 40 civilians.

Speaking at a naval base in Colorado to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II today, U.S. President George W. Bush said the same resolve that won World War II is needed to defeat terrorism and turn the tide in Iraq.

It was Bush's third speech about Iraq or the war on terrorism in less than two weeks. Polls show a majority of Americans now believe the invasion of Iraq was a mistake.

(dpa/Reuters/AP)

Copyright (c) 2005. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org