Monday, August 29 2005 15:09 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Crawford (Texas): President George W Bush predicted today that the Iraqi people will work together toward a new constitution, despite the failure to complete a draft that has the backing of all the country's ethnic and political groups.

"Of course there is disagreement," Bush told reporters. "We are watching a political process unfold."

"Some Sunnis have expressed reservations about various provisions in the constitution and that's their right as free individuals in a free society," the President said.

Despite the problems, Bush said the Iraqi people, "have once again demonstrated to the world that they are up to the historic challenges before them."

He called the draft constitution, "a document of which the Iraqis and the rest of the world can be proud."

His comments came as the Bush administration sought to dispel criticism that Iraqis completed a draft constitution that did not meet the US goal of broader backing.

"Not everyone loves every article of this document, not everyone is totally satisfied, but there is enough in this constitution that meets the basic needs of all communities and for Iraq to move forward," the US ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Reflecting the turmoil in Iraq over the document's drafting, Khalilzad was already talking about the need for changes.

After negotiators finished the draft today, it was read to the legislature, where the Shiite-Kurdish bloc that supports it has an overwhelming majority. But lawmakers adjourned without voting on the document.