A senior Sunni negotiator at talks about a new Iraqi Constitution has rejected a draft text put forward by his Shi'ite and Kurdish colleagues, describing it as dangerous for the country.
Salah al-Mutlaq criticised the way oil and water resources would be shared out and said it would contribute to the break-up of the country.
However, the speaker of the provisional assembly, Hajem al Hassani, said the latest draft, which took account of some of the Sunni concerns, would be forwarded to parliament for debate tomorrow.
The Sunni Arabs are fiercely opposed to federalism in the text, fearing it would give Shi'ite and Kurdish leaders control over oil resources.
'We requested a categorical omission of the term federalism from the constitution, and leaving it for the next elected parliament to look into the matter,' said Sunni negotiator Sheikh Khalaf Olayan.
Dominant Shi'ite and Kurdish parliamentary blocs have accepted to postpone implementing federalism until next mid-December elections, but insisted on referring to it in the draft constitution.
Bush calls for Americans to be patient
Meanwhile in the United States, The US President, George W Bush, has called on Americans to be patient with political and military developments in Iraq, and warned that there will be further sacrifice ahead.
Speaking in a radio address, Mr Bush praised Iraqi leaders negotiating the country's draft constitution and said the US would continue to support them.
He made the appeal as pro and anti-war campaigners gathered at his holiday retreat in Crawford, Texas, for a day of demonstrations.
Police have already made two arrests as tensions between the two groups have increased.
1,000 detainees released from Abu Ghraib
In a separate development in Iraq, up to 1,000 people detained at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq have been released over the past three days.
The prison is controlled by the US military who said that those who have been released were not guilty of serious crime.
The US military said it had freed the detainees at the Baghdad government's request, in the largest release to date.
