Sunni Arab groups have urged Iraqi voters to reject a draft constitution in a landmark referendum but Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari warned that such a move could plunge the country into chaos.
"If the constitution is approved we can have elections in December and elect a government that is fully representative of the Iraqi people. The alternative would be complete chaos," Zebari told the Sunday Telegraph in London.
The campaign for Iraq's draft constitution suffered a blow Sat-urday when Sunni Arab groups urged voters in the Oct. 15 referendum to reject the charter, which they warned would lead to the country's break-up.
"This constitution bears in it the germs of Iraq's division, the loss of its Arab identity and the plundering of its national wealth," 21 Sunni organizations said in a joint statement.
"As a result, we call for all Iraqis to reject this constitution by all legitimate means," said the groups, which included the influential Committee of Muslim Scholars and the main Iraqi Islamic party.
Zebari, who was in London last week with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, argued that implementing the constitution would allow US-led coalition forces, which invaded in March 2003, to start planning for their eventual withdrawal.
Britain currently has 8,500 troops deployed mainly in southern Iraq, around the city of Basra.
The Iraqi foreign minister said: "The new government will be in a far better position to defeat the insurgency, which is still being orchestrated mainly by the Baathist remnants of the old regime."
"But with a new constitution and a new government, all Iraqis will have to reassess their relationship with the government. Noone will be able to question its legitimacy in the future," he said.
Many Sunni Arabs, who make up a fifth of Iraq's population, oppose the draft because of federal provisions they fear will weaken the country and lead to an unfair distribution of oil wealth.
The document will have to be rewritten if more than two-thirds of voters in at least three of Iraq's 18 provinces vote "No," something Sunni Arabs might be able to achieve.
They largely boycotted landmark elections in January, leaving power in the hands of majority Iraqi Shiites and Kurds, and make up a large part of the Iraqi insurgency that continues to take dozens of lives almost daily.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary