Mahmoud Othman Quotes

"Everyone is trying to convince his own people and we haven't reached an agreement on federalism."

"There was not enough time to reach an agreement."

"Without any doubt, there is American pressure on everybody. The U.S. wants to reach a solution and finalize an agreement, and they say that the date of Aug. 15 is sacred."

"Without any doubt, there is American pressure on everybody, ... The U.S. wants to reach a solution and finalize an agreement, and they say that the date of Aug. 15 is sacred."

"We call on you all to take part in the elections, ... We don't want federalism."

"[Sunni approval of the constitution would have] created a big movement against the terrorists, ... It is a good document. What worries us is our Sunni Arab friends."

"How can we vote when we saw nothing of the last budget?"

"(Friday) they were fighting each other. Until noon (Saturday) there were no improvements but suddenly after Bush called them, they all went to the meeting. There is strong American pressure because they are very much concerned about Iraq."

"From the very beginning, we said that if the constitution committee wants to have a draft that all would agree on, it would be impossible by Aug. 15, ... The Sunnis haven't agreed on some points, and I don't think they will. The Kurds also haven't gotten their demands yet. ... There's a concern that the Sunnis and Kurds might boycott."

"He wrote his opinions to try to find a compromise, so all sides are now studying it."

"I am happy about this decision because I want this to be done democratically, even though we support the constitution."

"If concessions are made to the Sunnis to make additions to the constitution, then the other parties want a guarantee from the Sunnis that they will vote back the constitution at the referendum. But there are no guarantees."

"whether Islam will be the main source or a source of legislation in the constitution."

"We don't want to violate the constitution before our first meeting."

"The US officials are more interested in the Iraqi constitution than the Iraqis themselves, because they promised their people that it will be done August 15."

"It is not good to have a constitution that would limit the liberties of people, the human rights, the freedoms."

"The (committee) members will study and discuss the names, make their choices and then present them to the heads of the blocs either tonight or tomorrow."

"We hope to solve the problems to end the deadlock as soon as possible... we need time but how much I do not know. The delay is not acceptable."

"Iraq is in a very delicate situation and has problems with foreign forces, so we need a government of national unity that should include the Shiite list, Kurdish coalition and the Sunnis. When everyone is together, the problems will be less."

"The U.S. wants a government more than we do."