Updates to Iraq Charter Constitution Fail

Also reported by Reuters:

Iraq's main Shi'ite and Sunni Muslim sects abandoned efforts to amend a draft constitution on Tuesday and a version rejected by many Sunnis will be printed.

"The talks have ended. We did not reach any agreement on making changes to the draft. It will be printed in the form it was read to the National Assembly last week," Bahaa al-Araji, a member of the parliamentary drafting committee, told Reuters.

"No changes will be made," he said, adding that five million copies will be printed, starting on Thursday.

The constitution, due to be voted on in a referendum by October 15, has been a source of tension in Iraq as Sunnis, long the dominant political force, fear losing influence to majority Shi'ites, who were oppressed under Saddam Hussein.