Sunday, August 28 2005 11:52 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Baghdad: Iraq's Sunnis yesterday (August 27, 2005) were holding out against a draft constitution deal thrashed out by the Shiites and the Kurds, offering their own proposals for the new charter just a day before it goes to parliament for approval.

The Sunnis were sticking by their demand that the word "federalism" be removed from the constitution amid threats that the document would go to parliament tomorrow heedless of whether they agreed to it or not.

Officials said it remained to be seen whether agreement could be reached ahead of the vote, amid concern from the United States over the risks of leaving the Sunnis out with their anxieties unanswered.

Parliament speaker Hajim al-Hasani said that the Sunni Arabs had given a counter-proposal to the Shiites and Kurds after the two groups late on Friday forwarded what they called was their 'final offer'.

"We are looking into the counter-proposal given by the Sunnis," Hasani, a Sunni, told.

"Anything is possible till Sunday" he said when asked whether the draft forwarded by the Shiites and the Kurds to the Sunnis was final.

Earlier today (Aug 28, 2005) Hasani said the proposal forwarded to the Sunnis "is final and the parliament will vote on it on Sunday, even if the Sunnis do not accept it." Between them, Kurds and Shiites have an overwhelming majority in Parliament.

Hasani said the Shiites and the Kurds made some concessions in the draft and proposed them to the Sunnis on Friday night, adding, "The two groups have proposed that federalism will be implemented by the next assembly."

Iraq's next assembly will be elected by mid-December after the nation votes on the draft constitution on October 15.

Hasani said the Sunni Arabs's counter proposal revolved around the phrasing used to describe the implementation of federalism. "The Sunni counter-proposal has not been agreed or accepted by the Shiites and the Kurds," Hasani told.

But the Sunnis remained adamant on their anti-federalism stance.

"We requested a categorical omission of the term federalism from the constitution, and leaving it for the next elected parliament to look into the matter," Sunni negotiator Sheikh Khalaf Olayan, told.

Meanwhile, President Jalal Talabani will meet US President George W Bush next month and also address the UN General Assembly, Talabani's office said.

The US military said some 1,000 detainees in the infamous Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, which is operated by the US Army, have been released between August 24 and 25.

The detainees represented different Iraqi communities and had been brought to Abu Ghraib from different detention centres throughout Iraq ahead of their release.

In simmering unrest, three people were killed, including one Iraqi army officer in the northern oil-rich city of Kirkuk, police said.