Bloody Messy Democracy Gets Bloodier

Sunnis Working on Iraq Constitution Slain
By SAMEER N. YACOUB,
Associated Press Writer
Tue Jul 19, 6:49 PM ET

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Gunmen assassinated two Sunni Arabs involved in the drafting of Iraq's constitution Tuesday, another blow to U.S. and Iraqi efforts to draw members of the disaffected community away from the insurgency and into the political process.

Mijbil Issa, a committee member, Dhamin Hussein al-Obeidi, an adviser to the group, and their bodyguard died in a hail of gunfire from two vehicles as they left a restaurant in Baghdad's Karradah district, police said.

Issa, a prominent lawyer, was among 15 Sunni Arabs appointed last month to the 55-member constitutional committee — made up mostly of Shiites and Kurds — to give the Sunni minority a greater voice in building a new Iraq. Ten other Sunnis, including al-Obeidi, were named as advisers to the committee.

Insurgents had threatened Sunnis who help draft the constitution, and two committee members resigned earlier because they feared for their lives. Issa was the first to be assassinated.

Parliament speaker Hajim al-Hasani, among the highest-ranking Sunni Arabs in the Iraqi leadership, said the assassination was an attempt "to hinder the political and democratic process in Iraq."

"We confirm our commitment and intention to confront brutal terrorism and build the bright future of our country," al-Hasani said.

Ammar al-Hakim, a senior member of Iraq's largest Shiite political movement, told Al-Jazeera television that lists of Sunnis participating in politics were being distributed in mosques in Sunni areas of western Iraq "in which they are named as traitors."

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