Two American soldiers were killed on Monday according to US military sources when their vehicle overturned during a military operation near the town of Tel Afar.
Nineteen Iraqis were also killed when an explosion at a Baghdad checkpoint killed eight Iraqi troops.
Another eight Iraqi policemen and three civilians were killed when their bus was ambushed outside of the Taramiyah police station, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Constitution talks
In the midst of such unrest which continues to plague the country, Iraq's political groups continue to negotiate the future of their nation, seeking a final draft of the country's first democratic constitution.
On Sunday, several of Iraq's Sunni political parties called on the United Nations and the US to intervene after claiming to have been unfairly left out of the final stages of talks regarding Iraq's constitution between Shiite Muslim and Kurdish groups.
Sheik Abdel Nasser Janabi, a leading Sunni negotiator called for delaying the constitution deadline as a result. "We need more time to negotiate," he said. "I see an attempt to exclude the Arab Sunnis".
Iraq's transitional National Assembly is expected to approve a final draft of the constitution on Monday after having postponed the deadline last Monday in the hopes of reaching a compromises on several issues in the constitution.
Much of the controversy regarding the constitution lies in the issue of greater regional autonomy, which both Shiites and Kurds lacked under the regime of Saddam Hussein. Other issues which have been cause for controversy include the division of oil revenue and the role of Islamic law in Iraq's government.
So far Sunni groups have opposed measures which would grant regional autonomy to Kurdish and Shiite groups, fearing that it would ultimately result in the fracturing of Iraq into separate countries.
Some Sunnis have threatening to respond by defeating the constitutional at the when it is presented to voters in an Oct. 15 referendum. .
Iraqi sources have expressed loss of hope to forge an agreement between the three groups. The Sunni position, he said, is "directly contrary to what the others want".
Vice President Adel Abdul Mehdi, a Shiite, said that the document was 97% complete and predicted that it would be forwarded to the National Assembly in time for passage today, according to the Associated Press.
Saddam letter
In a letter published on Sunday, former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein said that he would sacrifice himself for Arab nationalism and to end foreign occupation.
"I sacrifice my soul and very existence to the Arab cause and liberation of our homeland from foreign liberation," Hussein said in the letter which was apparently heavily censored by the U.S. military. He went on to say that "Life is meaningless without the considerations of faith, love and inherited history in our nation".
The letter had apparently been given to International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) by a Jordanian friend of the former leader, who he referred to as : "My brother, love your people, love Palestine, love your nation, long live Palestine."
© 2005 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
