UPDATE ~ Iraq government says constitution complete, no vote needed News
UPDATE ~ Iraq government says constitution complete, no vote needed

[JURIST] Iraqi government spokesman Laith Kubba said Thursday that a final version of the Iraqi constitution [JURIST news archive; translated draft, in English] has been completed and that the document will be approved later today. A National Assembly spokesman said earlier Thursday that the parliament had cancelled the scheduled vote [JURIST report] on the constitution set for today, but Kubba said that parliament did not need to formally meet again to approve the draft. According to Kubba, the charter was effectively passed on Monday when the Assembly took delivery of the document from its constitutional drafting committee [official website], despite a three-day extension [JURIST report] allowed for further negotiations on unresolved issues. Sunni members of the drafting committee insist, however, that there has been no agreement on the constitution. Reuters has more.