In a political breakthrough, members of a Shiite-dominated committee drafting Iraq's new constitution reached a deal Thursday with Sunni Arab groups concerning their representation on the panel.

The agreement came after weeks of tough talks and just two months before a deadline for completing the new charter. The compromise, which could prove as significant as January's historic elections, was expected to yield a constitution acceptable to all Iraqis, anchoring America's efforts to help transform Iraq into a stable and functioning democracy.

The stalemate had threatened to torpedo Iraq's carefully choreographed political process, which enters its final stretch with two nationwide votes scheduled for later this year. It also heightened sectarian tensions at a time of marked escalation in a two-year insurgency waged by the fringes of the once-powerful Sunni Arab community.

Since Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari's government was announced April 28, insurgents have killed nearly 1,100 people. On Thursday, a suicide car bomber slammed into a truck carrying Iraqi policemen near the Baghdad airport, killing at least eight and wounding 25.

The US military also announced that six troops were killed the day before in bombing and shooting attacks in Ramadi, west of Baghdad. At least 1,714 members of the US military have died since the war began in 2003, according to an AP count.

Under Thursday's agreement, announced by two lawmakers involved in the negotiations, 15 Sunni Arabs would join the 55-member committee in a parallel body. That 55-member committee already includes two Sunni Arabs.

That group of 70 would make its decisions through consensus and then send those decisions to the 55 legislators for ratification.

The Sunni Arabs demanded 25 more representatives on the committee, but Shiite and Kurdish legislators would only agree to 13. The compromise gave the Sunni Arabs 17 seats, two more than the 15 held by the Kurds who, like the Sunni Arabs, account for up to 20 percent of Iraq's estimated 26 million people.

Significantly, it also revealed a newfound desire by the Sunni Arabs to rejoin the political fold. Their boycott of the January elections left them with only 17 of parliament's 275 seats. It also highlighted the realistic approach being followed by al-Jaafari's Shiite-dominated government on the question of political inclusion.

"I think the political process is continuing in a good way and it will be even better with the participation of the Sunni Arabs," Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Sunni Kurd, said after the compromise was announced.

Parliament has until mid-August to adopt a draft constitution, which will be put to a nationwide referendum by mid-October. If approved, it will provide the basis for a new election in December — the last of three nationwide votes prescribed in an interim constitution.

"We have agreed to 15 representatives so that we stop anyone from claiming that the Sunni Arabs were the obstacle to drafting a constitution for Iraq," said Adnan al-Duleimi, head of the Sunni Endowments, a key charitable organization that runs thousands of Sunni mosques and seminaries across Iraq.

"I am now very optimistic about the political process."

Al-Duleimi's upbeat comments reflect a shift in Sunni Arab sentiments that analysts and government officials attribute to the community's growing realization that the January boycott may have been a costly mistake. Many Sunni Arab leaders already speak of contesting the December elections.

Under the US-inspired interim constitution, 16 of Iraq's 18 provinces must approve the draft in a referendum or parliament will dissolve and new elections will be held, delaying the political process by a year.

Sunni Arabs are a majority in four provinces.

"The agreement exceeded our expectations," said Ismael Zayer, editor of the independent Baghdad daily al-Sabah al-Jadid, or New Day. "It's an excellent indication of what is to come."

Sunni Arabs dominated Iraq for almost a century before Saddam Hussein, a Sunni, was ousted two years ago. Many of them face difficulties in accepting Iraq's postwar realities, primarily the rise to prominence of the long-oppressed Shiite majority and the Kurds.

But Zayer and some in the government believe that perceived disenfranchisement may slowly be giving way to a growing sense of worth that is driving the Sunni Arabs back into the political fold.

"The Sunnis' decisions to take part in the drafting of the constitution is proof of their resolve to be part of the political process," said Suleiman al-Jomaili, a political science lecturer at Baghdad University.

Al-Jaafari's government, acting on US calls for inclusion, has reached out to the Sunni Arabs, giving them several Cabinet posts, including the key jobs of deputy prime minister and defense minister. But his administration has been vilified by some Sunni Arab leaders who claim their community has been penalized for its leading role in the insurgency.

But meaningful Sunni Arab participation in the political process is certain to win al-Jaafari friends in a Sunni-dominated Arab world that remains skeptical of the political changes sweeping Iraq since Saddam's ouster.

With his term ending with December's elections, al-Jaafari has little time to make any significant progress in tackling Iraq's enormous problems — security, high unemployment, crime and a crumbling infrastructure.

Securing Sunni Arab goodwill by appearing to be the leader of all Iraqis and the adoption of a constitution could win him votes in December.

"Al-Jaafari and his government need to show that they are not just about taking power," Zayer said. "They realize that their success as a group encompassing everyone is very important."

(Chinadaily.com via agencies June 17, 2005)