Sunnis rejoin Iraq's constitutional commission

[ECH1969]

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Sunni Arab members of a committee drafting Iraq's new constitution ended their boycott Monday, six days after jeopardizing the credibility of the nascent political process by walking out in protest over the assassinations of two fellow Sunni constitution framers.

Their decision to return eased the threat that the country's new constitution would be a product of only two of three major Iraqi ethnic and religious groups. Leaving out the Sunni Arabs, who form the core of the insurgency, would dim hopes for a political exit from the incessant violence gripping the country.

One of the subcommittees working on constitutional articles involving "rights, freedoms and responsibilities" announced agreement on several issues. The new language will state that all Iraqis are equal under the law "regardless of sex, race, origin, color, religion, sect, belief or opinion" and bans discrimination based on those categories.

The draft articles also affirm the family as "the nucleus of society and the state should preserve its values and religious and patriotic principles." It also bans child labor, violence within the family and guarantees "a balance between the role of women in the family and her work in society."

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