Leaders Try to Change Iraq Referendum Rules

'BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Sunni Arab leaders on Tuesday threatened to boycott Iraq's crucial vote on a new constitution, angered by new rules by the Shiite-led parliament that make it nearly impossible for Sunnis to defeat it at the polls. U.S. and U.N. officials were trying to persuade the government to reverse the changes.

A Sunni boycott of the Oct. 15 referendum would deeply undermine the legitimacy of a constitution that the United States had hoped would bring together the country's disparate factions and erode support among Iraq's Sunni Arab minority for the insurgency. Sunnis oppose the constitution, but U.S. officials are still trying to ensure they participate in the vote.

"The Americans and the United Nations ... don't agree with the referendum law, and there are consultations between them and Iraqi parliamentarians to find a new formula," said Kurdish parliament member Mahmoud Othman. A new formula might be reached by Wednesday, and it would go to the legislature for a new vote, he said.

U.N. and U.S. officials could not immediately be reached for comment."
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