Lawmakers: Iraqi panel drafting constitutional amendments seeks deadline extension

[maddezmom]

Source: AP

BAGHDAD (AP ) — A parliamentary committee set up to study amendments to Iraq’s constitution has failed to agree on a number of issues and will seek a weeklong extension of its deadline to present a report to parliament, lawmakers said Monday.

The 30-member committee was to present its report Tuesday — four months after it was established. Amending the constitution to address Sunni Arab concerns is one of the key benchmarks for measuring political progress in Iraq.

But the committee was unable to agree on recommendations and lawmakers said it would ask for an extension until May 22, the next time parliament is scheduled to meet.

Iraqi politicians said the major stumbling block was a provision about the future of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, which the Kurds want to annex into their semiautonomous northern region. Arabs and Turkomen object

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