Deal would give Sunnis more say in government

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraqi political leaders said they had agreed to an important last-minute change in the draft constitution on Tuesday evening in exchange for a promise by some prominent Sunni Arab leaders to publicly support the document in the nationwide referendum on Saturday.

The change would create a panel in the next parliament with the power to propose broad revisions to the constitution. In effect, the change could give the Sunnis — who were largely shut out of the constitution-writing process — a chance to help redraft the document after the December elections.

The agreement was a major victory for American officials, who have spent weeks urging Iraq's Shiite and Kurdish leaders to make changes that could soften Sunni opposition to the charter and forge a broader consensus. The Americans had voiced fears that if the constitution passed over strong Sunni opposition, more would lose faith in the political process and turn toward violence.

The breakthrough came as insurgents continued their intensified campaign to create chaos, launching at least a dozen attacks across Iraq that left at least 42 people dead and dozens wounded. The biggest attack was a bombing in Tal Afar that killed at least 27.

The constitutional change would need to be approved by the National Assembly, which has convened a special session for that purpose on Wednesday. That is likely to be a formality, as the lawmakers generally follow the dictates of their party leaders.

"This will give a new chance to the people who were not present in the writing of the constitution," said Alaa Makky, a senior member of the Iraqi Islamic Party, Iraq's best-known Sunni political group, which had until now been urging its members to vote against the document in the referendum on Saturday. "We think this may be the beginning of a new era, and we think it is a great success."

The Iraqi Islamic Party was the only Sunni Arab group involved in the talks, which also included the leaders of Iraq's Shiite and Kurdish political alliances and the American ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad. Makky said the party had acted in coordination with another major Sunni group, the Conference of the People of Iraq, which has also agreed to change its stance and support the draft constitution.

It was too early to tell whether a public endorsement of the constitution by those two groups would translate into a much broader acceptance among Sunni Arabs. With only three full days left before the referendum, it will be difficult for Sunni groups to convey a new message to their supporters, especially after Thursday, when the Iraqi authorities will impose security measures restricting travel.