Iraqis want more time for constitution

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The head of Iraq's constitutional committee said Tuesday he did not think the three additional days lawmakers said are needed to reach a compromise on the draft charter would be enough.\nThe draft was submitted to parliament just minutes before a midnight deadline Monday by Kurds and Shiite Arabs on the committee drafting the charter. \nThat last--minute scrambling came one week after the original Aug. 15 deadline.\nLawmakers quickly deferred a vote on the draft Monday because of fierce resistance from Sunni Arabs, and parliamentary speaker Hajim al-Hassani said it would take an additional three days to iron out "pending differences."\nBut Humam Hammoudi, head of the constitutional drafting committee, told reporters Tuesday he did not expect three days to be sufficient to solve all the outstanding issues. \n"We may find some formula to postpone some matters," he said.\nIf no compromise can be reached on the Sunni demands, "We will turn it to the Iraqi people to say yes or no," he said.