Masked gunmen, calling themselves the al-Haq Army, surround the main mosque in Ramadi, Iraq, to block entrance Thursday June 16, 2005. The armed men blocked the entrance to the mosque to stop officias and tribal elders who planned a conference to select representatives to meet with coalition forces. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
A masked gunmen, right, from a group calling themselves the al-Haq Army, helps to surround the main mosque in Ramadi, Iraq as an Iraqi policeman walks by Thursday June 16, 2005. The armed men blocked the entrance to the mosque after city officials and tribal elders planned a conference to select representatives to meet with coalition forces. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Masked gunmen, calling themselves the al-Haq Army, surround the main mosque in Ramadi, Iraq, to block entrance Thursday June 16, 2005. The armed men blocked the entrance to the mosque to stop city officials and tribal elders who planned a conference to select representatives to meet with coalition forces. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Iraqi insurgents take up positions at a crossroads in the Iraqi town of Ramadi, west of Baghdad, June 16, 2005. Five U.S. marines were killed in Ramadi yesterday when their vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device. REUTERS/Ali Mashhadani
Iraqi insurgents take up positions at a crossroads in the Iraqi town of Ramadi, west of Baghdad, June 16, 2005. Five U.S. marines were killed in Ramadi yesterday when their vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device. REUTERS/Ali Mashhadani
Iraqi insurgents take up positions at a crossroads in the Iraqi town of Ramadi, west of Baghdad, June 16, 2005. Five U.S. marines were killed in Ramadi yesterday when their vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device. REUTERS/Ali Mashhadani
An Iraqi insurgent crouches with a weapon at a crossroads in the Iraqi town of Ramadi, west of Baghdad, June 16, 2005. Five U.S. marines were killed in Ramadi yesterday when their vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device. REUTERS/Ali Mashhadani
Iraqi Shiites, Sunnis Reach Compromise BAGHDAD, Iraq - Senior members of a Shiite-dominated committee drafting Iraq's new constitution reached a compromise Thursday with Sunni Arab groups on the number of representatives the minority will have on the body drafting the charter.
The agreement broke weeks of deadlock between the 55-member committee and Sunni Arabs over the size of their representation.
The stalemate had threatened to derail Iraq's political process as it was about to enter its final stretch, with two key nationwide votes later this year — a constitutional referendum and a general election.
Under the deal, 15 Sunni Arabs would join two members of the minority already on the committee. Another 10 Sunni Arabs would join, but only in an advisory capacity.
News of the deal was announced by two lawmakers who sit on the committee — Shiite Bahaa al-Aaraji and Sunni Arab Adnan al-Janabi. Both have led contacts with the Sunni Arab community over the size of their participation in the constitutional process.
They also attended a meeting Thursday with 70 representatives of the Sunni community over the issue.
The United States and the European Union have called for the inclusion of the Sunni Arabs in the drafting of the constitution to ensure the credibility and success of the process.
Al-Aaraji and al-Janabi said Sunni Arabs would submit a list of their candidates next week, and that parliament would subsequently issue a statement welcoming the expansion of the constitutional committee.
"It was a cordial meeting," al-Aaraji said. "They will set up a five-member committee to draw up a list of 15 candidates which they will submit to us in three days."
Because the 15 Sunni Arabs to be added are not elected members of parliament, they would join the committee's 55 legislators in a parallel body. That 70-member body would make decisions by consensus and pass them back to the 55 lawmakers for ratification.
The 15 new members are two more than what the chairman of the constitutional committee, Shiite cleric Hummam Hammoudi, had proposed Wednesday.
Leaders of the Sunni Arab community had wanted 25 people to join the two legislators already on the committee, but Shiite and Kurdish lawmakers balked at the demand. They argued that such a large number could be taken as a tacit acknowledgment that the minority was larger than estimated.
Sunni Arabs, like the Kurds, make up between 15 percent and 20 percent of Iraq's estimated 26 million people. The Shiites are believed to be about 60 percent. The Kurds are represented on the committee by 15 members.
The compromise would give them two seats less than the Sunni Arabs, whose share of the population is equal to theirs.
Iraq's 275-seat parliament, elected in historic January elections that were boycotted by most Sunni Arabs, has until Aug. 15 to prepare a new constitution that will be put to a nationwide referendum two months later. If approved, it will serve as the basis for a new general election to be held in December.
A Sunni Arab boycott allowed the Shiites and Kurds to win the majority of seats in parliament. There are only 17 Sunni Arabs on the body.
The deadlock over Sunni Arab participation in the constitutional process has stoked sectarian tensions in Iraq and coincided with a marked escalation in the two-year, Sunni-dominated insurgency.