Iraqi Politicians Scramble to Reach Agreement On Constitution As Deadline Looms

Summary

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BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The Iraqi parliament delayed a session Monday on whether to approve a new constitution hours before a midnight deadline as faction leaders failed in last-minute talks to agree on a federated state and other divisive issues.

The delay came after some Iraqi politicians suggested that parliament should extend the deadline for approving the charter while others said it could be approved over Sunni objections as last- minute talks failed to produce agreement on a federated state and other divisive issues.

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Iraqi Politicians Scramble to Reach Agreement On Constitution As Deadline Looms

The 275-member National Assembly had been scheduled to convene at 6 p.m. (10 a.m. EDT) to consider the draft but moments ahead of the time, the meeting room in the heavily guarded Green Zone was absent of legislators.

It initially was delayed for two hours, but Kurdish lawmaker Ma...

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