Four Sunni Arab cabinet ministers and one deputy prime minister have expressed reservations about the draft Iraqi constitution. They’ve cited 13 points they say need amending.

The Sunnis are opposed to the concept of a federal Iraq, fearing it would give Shi’ite and Kurdish leaders control over the country’s oil wealth. The Minister of State for Women’s Affairs, Azhar Abdel-Karim, told reporters that talk of federalism should be postponed adding that while Kurdish identity is important it is also important to safeguard the Arabic identity of Iraq as a whole. The Sunni’s are also opposed to apportioning government posts by religious sect, giving the Kurds special status and removing any mention of Saddam Hussein’s Baath party. But the are suggestions that some Sunni’s have been won round. It’s not clear yet if the parliament will meet again today to review and respond to the proposed changes. To perhaps help move negotiations along the US military released a thousand mainly Sunni detainees from Abu Ghraib prison. It’s the largest release to date.

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