Clerics and tribal leaders from Iraq's Sunni Arab minority have expressed optimism that they can mobilise their communities to reject the draft constitution in next month's referendum. The three-day meeting organised to scuttle the charter concluded with a communique on Saturday urging a no vote "if the constitution's main points on Iraq's unity and Arab identity are not rectified, as well as articles related to political and racial segregation". Meeting organiser and prominent cleric Shaikh Abdul-Latif Himayem said he expected at least 51% of Iraq's electorate to vote against the charter in the 15 October referendum. "We are calling on all leaders, clergymen, tribal chiefs and university professors to mobilise their constituents to go to the polls and to vote no to the constitution," Himayem said. "We have also prepared a petition and we expect to gather support from about 5 million people from all over Iraq to say no to the constitution."
The conference was held in the Jordanian capital, Amman, for security reasons. Iraq's Sunni Arabs have strongly opposed the draft constitution, largely because they say it would give Shia in the south the right to form a mini-state that Sunnis fear will deprive them of the area's oil wealth and lead to Iraq's fragmentation.