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Your World Today

Iraq Constitution; Gaza Pullout; Tragic Mistake in London

Aired August 22, 2005 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sure in the next few weeks we will have a very good selling process. And we are going to market this idea to our community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONATHAN MANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Iraq prepares to present a draft constitution, but will it be ratified?

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: As Israel's withdrawal from Gaza comes to a close, troops turn their attention to the West Bank.

MANN: Investigating the investigation. Brazilians arrive in London to search for the truth about the death of one of their own.

VERJEE: And a call for international help goes out to fight Portugal's raging wildfires.

MANN: It is 5:00 p.m. in Lisbon, noon in New York. I'm Jonathan Mann.

VERJEE: And I'm Zain Verjee. Welcome to our viewers throughout the world. This is CNN International, and this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

MANN: A breakthrough in Iraq. Official says a new draft constitution is expected to be presented to the Iraqi transitional National Assembly in just hours from now. Hours ahead of a midnight deadline.

Aneesh Raman has the latest from Baghdad.

Aneesh, is this a done deal?

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jonathan, we are just two hours away from when the National Assembly is set to convene. All expectations are they will be handed a draft constitution. Earlier today, we reported a deal had been reached between the Shia and Kurd coalition on a constitution, and they have been trying and will try up until the last moment to include the Sunnis into this document.

Joining me now is Saleh Mutlag, a Sunni negotiator in this process. How concerned are you that we are about to see a draft constitution that does not include the Sunni voice?

DR. SALEH MUTLAG, MEMBER, CONSTITUTIONAL COMMITTEE: This constitution does not only include -- does not include the Sunni voice. It does not include other voices in Iraq.

What you believe that these parties (INAUDIBLE) is wrong. The Shia and the Sunnis now is against what is written in this document, in this constitution. Iraqis have shown their wish. Seventy-five percent of the people in different polling, they rejected federalism. And they want to put federalism now in the constitution.

RAMAN: So you're speaking, of course, of federalism, which the Kurds have wanted, being in this draft constitution. If that is the case, do you think this constitution will fail in the referendum?

MUTLAG: I think it will fail not only by three provinces, it will fail in all over Iraq. People will reject it providing that there will be a fair and decent and honest referendum.

RAMAN: Have the Sunnis been involved in this process? Have you been part of the dialogue? And if not, what is the danger in that?

MUTLAG: Well, we've been in the process. We took the risk, the political risk and the physical risk, and we came to join our brothers to work on a constitution which is going to be accepted by most of the Iraqis. But what happened is that they are trying to leave us aside and go to do the constitution by themselves, although we had an agreement with them -- with them and there was a decision from the National Assembly which said that all the decisions would be taken by -- by consensus. If they -- if they pass it without consensus, we believe that this is illegal and should not pass.

RAMAN: The final question, there are those that will say the Sunnis didn't show up to the January elections, they are not in numbers in the National Assembly, so who are the Sunnis to then try and halt this process?

MUTLAG: Well, the Sunnis tried to be in the January election, but they were pushed out of it by hitting the cities during the -- during the election. And we asked for a two-month extension at that time to join the process, and it was -- our demand was refused. So it is not our fault. And in any case, this has passed.

We are now in the political process, but they have prevented us again. And this will be a complete loss for the American and even the Iraqis. Even those who are going to be in the government, they are going to lose.

RAMAN: Sir, thank you so much for your time.

And so, Jonathan, that is what is emerging, a very vocal Sunni voice that is saying any draft constitution that comes forward today will not have their support. That is not needed in a technical sense. The Shia and the Kurds have enough votes to pass a draft constitution. They are saying that, while the Sunnis may be objecting quite vehemently at this point, they believe federalism is a key component to the new Iraq and they will embark on a conversation with the Sunni population on that subject. Two-thirds of three provinces is required, Jonathan, to reject this constitution and the referendum. The key question now will be whether the Shia and Kurds are able to convince a majority of Sunni Iraqis, if not all Iraqis, that federalism is in their best interest, or if we do see those numbers turn out not supporting this constitution and restarting this process -- Jonathan.

MANN: Aneesh, Iraqis don't just want a constitution, they want peace, they want safety in their streets. What does the apparent exclusion of the Sunnis from this process right now mean to the insurgents?

RAMAN: The insurgency is, of course, predominantly made up of Sunnis. Engaging the Sunnis in the political process has long been thought to have been a key ingredient to really curbing the insurgency, to making Sunnis feel that they can join the political fray.

This will of course have ramifications on that end. It will deepen divides among these three groups, between the Kurd-Shia coalition and the Sunnis.

And so what we could see in the weeks to come, in the months to come, is an increase of disillusionment by the Sunnis in the political process, a distancing perhaps further away. But it will be incumbent on the Shia-Kurd coalition to proactively go out there and try and engage in discussions the Sunni population and put forth a good face on what essentially seems to be a draft document that does not at this point enjoy Sunni support -- Jonathan.

MANN: Aneesh Raman in Baghdad. Thanks very much.

We'd like to know what you think of today's developments in Iraq, as well as the overall situation there. E-mail us at YWT@CNN.com. We'll share some of your views with our global audience later in this program.

VERJEE: The Israeli pullout from Gaza has entered its final last stage. Jewish settlers in the last settlement of Netzarim have packed up their bags and evacuated their homes. In contrast to other settlement withdrawals, the Netzarim pullout was peaceful, but just as painful.

Matthew Chance joins us now live from Netzarim.

Matthew, tell us more of what it was like.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they were very traumatic times, of course, for the Jewish settlers, many of whom who have lived in these settlements across the Gaza Strip for decades. Over the past five days since Israel's operation to evacuate all of those Gaza Strip settlements, we've seen great scenes of emotion. Twenty of those settlements have already been evacuated by the Israeli security forces. The last one, and perhaps one of the most contentious ones, Netzarim, nestled amid 1.3 million Palestinians in the heart of the Gaza Strip, that was evacuated today, left purposely until the last. It is one of the most controversial settlements.

We didn't see the violent scenes that we'd seen there in previous settlements that had been evacuated over the course of the past five days, but still, very emotional scenes indeed. Over the past five days, at least 8,500 people have been evacuated, and it seems very much that the era of Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip at least has now come to an end.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE (voice over): A day many Israelis will never forget. The Jewish settlements of Netzarim was Gaza's most controversial and its last to be evacuated. The Torah scrolls removed from its synagogue, a symbolic end to decades of Jewish settlements there.

SHLOMIT ZIV, JEWISH SETTLER: And even though the government of Israel is disattaching (ph) from this part of the land, from a part of their soul, the people of Israel will be back here just as all of the prophets promised us.

CHANCE: This was an evacuation without violence, settlers and soldiers praying together and crying together at what had to be done.

Elsewhere in Gaza, Israeli bulldozers have already begun demolishing empty homes. But in Netzarim, one family continued to build, hoping against hope the divide intervention to save their community, a miracle that never came.

These were the scenes last week at the settlements of Kfar Darom, an ugly confrontation between hard-line protesters and police. They were evacuated all the same, but these are traumatic images many Israelis fear could divide them.

And as attention shifts from Gaza to the evacuation of four Jewish settlements on the West Bank, Israeli security forces say they're bracing for worst to come.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE: Well, these a bit very traumatic days, as I mentioned, for many Israelis across the country watching these -- these scenes on their television screen, if not actually taking part in them face to face. But there are also events that have taken place much more smoothly and much more quickly than many people had hoped for. And certainly there's a great deal of anxiety about what the coming days will bring, as I mentioned there, when the Israeli security forces attempt to evacuate the really hard-line settlements, four of them that have been earmarked for evacuation in the West Bank -- Zain.

VERJEE: What do we know about how many of the settlers that have been evacuated from Gaza will go to the West Bank? CHANCE: Well, we certainly know that all the settlers from Netzarim, this last and one of the most controversial settlements that we visited today from the Gaza Strip, we know that the whole community there, which is a devout religious community of just under 500 people, are planning, at least as a temporary measure, to relocate to the Ariel (ph) settlement which is in the West Bank. Now, we don't whether that's going to become permanent, but it's certainly just a temporary measure at the moment.

But these people are extremely ideological. They're extremely devout Jews. And they believe it's their God-given right to live in this land, which, of course, under national law is Palestinian territory.

VERJEE: Matthew Chance, reporting to us from Netzarim -- John?

MANN: And now we go to Ben Wedeman, just outside Netzarim, for the latest on how Palestinians are reacting to all of this.

Ben, are the Palestinians now in control there?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No, they're not in control in Netzarim. Of course the Israeli army is still there.

The Palestinian security forces have deployed around the settlement. There are approximately a thousand of them, three brigades of Palestinian security. Their job has essentially been to keep anyone, Palestinians from approaching the settlements, and, of course, preventing any sort of attack taking place, launched by militants that might in any way impede the pullout.

Now, earlier, we saw from our vantage point some of the buses carrying the Israeli settlers out of Netzarim. These buses significantly are armored because this is an area, of course, very much exposed to the surrounding Palestinian areas. This has been an area that certainly in the early days of the intifada in September and October of 2000, when I was here, was the scene of intense fighting. Really every day there were very deadly clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian irregulars, high casualties in this area.

Now, of course, Netzarim, the Palestinians have long said, was a bone in their throat, a settlement that straddled two of the main roads in Gaza. And when problems occurred, when the fighting was intense, what happened was Israel closed actually permanently one of the main roads. And the other road, the coastal road, is actually frequently cut as well.

So Palestinians are looking forward to when the Israeli army leaves, because, of course, the Israel army is going to be in Netzarim for several weeks to come. They're hoping that finally that this area around us will return to something that might resemble normality -- Jonathan.

MANN: Ben, I want to ask you more about the conflict between factions there. Is it clear who's really going to end up running Gaza now? WEDEMAN: Well, officially, of course, it's going to be the Palestinian Authority. And you speak to anyone in the authority and they say there's no question about it. But what we've seen here really for quite some time is -- in fact, since the beginning of the uprising in September 2000, is that the authority's power has been diminished, diminished by infighting, diminished by Israeli attacks on the Palestinian security facilities.

At the same time, groups like Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, they're prominence, their power in the street has grown significantly because of their participation in what they call the armed struggle. Now, for instance, yesterday, I went to the Palestinian legislative council Gaza City and I watched as members of the Aqsa Martyrs Brigade forced their way into the legislator and basically shoved aside the Palestinian police who were there.

So that sort of event, these scenes that we see, certainly do raise doubt, raise questions about who eventually is going to control the Gaza Strip, because at this point it really isn't altogether clear what's going on happen here in the months ahead -- Jonathan.

MANN: CNN's Ben Wedeman in Gaza. Thanks very much.

In Britain, mounting pressure on London police after the shooting death of an innocent man.

VERJEE: A month ago today, police killed a Brazilian national. Up next, what officials from Brazil hope to learn in London about his death.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERJEE: Welcome back. You're watching an hour of world news here on CNN International.

A Brazilian delegation is in Britain to talk to authorities investigating a killing that is now seen as a tragic mistake. A Brazilian man was shot by police who mistook him for a terrorist in the wake of the London bombings.

Mallika Kapur reports from the British capital.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MALLIKA KAPUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This is where Jean Charles de Menezes lost his life. Exactly one month ago, the Brazilian national was gunned down by British police. Eight gunshots for a man officials suspected was a suicide bomber. Later, they admitted he wasn't, triggering a wave of anger around the world, much of it directed at Scotland Yard.

British police recently visited de Menezes family in Brazil, but that trip was criticized, as was the Metropolitan Police service's offer of compensation. It read, "The MPS also offers 15,000 pounds by way of compensation to you for the death of Jean Charles. This payment is called an ex gratia payment." It goes on to say, "This means that your legal rights are unaffected and does not preclude you from taking legal proceedings against the police in the futures if you chose to do so."

From Britain's police watchdog, an acknowledgement the offer wasn't handled as well as it could have been.

JENNY JONES, METROPOLITAN POLICE AUTHORITY: It's written in legalese, so it does sound a little bit hard. And, in fact, I think the offer of money for accommodation for flights, I think it's actually very sensible of the Met to do that. And you'd almost say it was sensitive if it weren't written in such a hard, legal way.

KAPUR: That's not enough for de Menezes family and for Brazilian officials who arrived in London Monday demanding clarifications on the events leading up to his death. New reports linked to British media contradict initial police reports that de Menezes aroused suspicions by wearing a bulky jacket and running from the police. The reports say de Menezes walked calmly to the tube station and show him wearing a light denim jacket when he was killed.

Fernando Duarte is a London-based reporter for one of Brazil's major newspapers.

FERNANDO DUARTE, "GLOBO" CORRESPONDENT: We used to think that in Europe the police didn't use the same tactics as the South American forces. So basically, it's getting nasty, and everyone in the government is saying somebody needs to do something about it, because they say the police is actually contradicting itself every day.

KAPUR: London's police chief is facing calls for him to resign, but Ian Blair said he's sticking with his job and focusing on the current task at hand, protecting Britain from a future terrorist attack.

Mallika Kapur, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MANN: A very different kind of story. Britain's mysterious piano man has left the hospital and returned to his native Germany.

The German Foreign Ministry says the man is Bavarian, but did not identify him. The 20-year-old was found on a beach in southern England back in April, and for months he refused to speak. He was dubbed the "piano man" because he reportedly loved to play the instrument. London's "Daily Mirror" reports the man finally revealed he came to Britain after he lost his job in Paris.

Still ahead, we'll report on financial markets around the world.

VERJEE: And then we're going to check stories making news in the United States, including the sentencing of the man who's admitted to carrying out the 1996 Olympic park bombing in Atlanta and other attacks. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERJEE: Welcome back. Let's check some of the stories making news now in the United States.

The man who carried out the 1996 Olympic games bombing in Atlanta is due to be sentenced this day in federal court. Eric Rudolph pleaded guilty this year to carrying out the blast, as well as to detonating bombs at a women's clinic and a gay nightclub in Atlanta. His attacks killed one person and wound 122.

A strike aimed at disrupting operation at Northwest Airlines appears to be a failure so far. Mechanics at the nation's number four carrier are now spending their third day on the picket lines, but they do not have the support of the airline pilots or flight attendants. Northwest says it operated its normal schedule over the weekend, using replacement workers and outside contractors.

And another week, another record for fuel prices in the U.S. The American Automobile Association says the national average for a gallon of unleaded self-serve regular gas is now $2.61. Diesel fuels also at a record level, at $2.65 a gallon. But when you take inflation into account, today's average price for unleaded regular would have to climb more than $3 a gallon to match the record set in 1981.

MANN: And yet I don't know a single person in the U.S. who is comforted by that fact.

Time to check on the markets.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

VERJEE: We're going to bring you an update of our top stories just ahead here on YOUR WORLD TODAY.

MANN: Also, fires raging out of control in Portugal. The latest on the growing European effort to help put out the blazes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERJEE: Welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY on CNN International. I'm Zain Verjee.

MANN: And I'm Jonathan Mann. Here are some of the top stories we're following this hour.

VERJEE: An Israeli army commander says Israel's evacuation of all Jewish settlers from Gaza is complete. About 500 residents of the last settlement, in Netzarim, have been cleared out. When the Palestinian Authority takes over the site, it plans to build a warehouse district that will serve to be the future port of Gaza.

MANN: As a midnight deadline approaches in Iraq, Kurdish and Shia negotiators say they have agreed on a draft constitution that is to be presented in the hours to come. The national assembly has, in fact, been convened. A large question, though, still remains in the air about whether the Sunni minority will accept the deal. The original deadline for negotiations was extended by a week because several issues were unresolved.

VERJEE: Earlier on I spoke to Iraq's national security adviser, Mowaffak Al-Rubaie, about the difficulties of thrashing out an agreement. I started by asking him what issue have been agreed upon by Shias and Kurds.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MOWAFFAK AL-RUBAIE, IRAQI NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: The technical difficulties in getting three parties together to agree on the fine-tuning of the wording of the agreement is difficult. So the easiest -- the easier way is to get two parties, the Shia and Kurds together first, and let them agree on the wording, on the text of some of these articles, and then negotiate as one block with the Sunni, and I think the wording we have reached now is -- will be agreeable by the Sunni community.

VERJEE: What is the wording that you've reached on issues such as federalism on the sharing of oil, on the role of Islam?

AL-RUBAIE: Well, federal system is is part and parcel of all democracy. It's -- you cannot separate democracy in Iraq from federal system. Decentralization and federal system is an integral part, is a pivotal part in the whole of alternative vision for a new Iraq. So you cannot separate this, and the federal system is going to be for all of Iraq, not for the Kurdish region, is not going to be on a sectarian line, is not going to be on only in one part of the country like Kurdistan, but is going to be for all over Iraq.

VERJEE: Are you going to be able to sell the agreements between the Shias and the Kurds to the Sunni block, because they've been complaining all week that they've been locked out of the process, that they've been locked out of negotiations and excluded.

AL-RUBAIE: Well, the Sunnis are very well engaged, very well entrenched in this process of negotiation. They are expressing their views.

VERJEE: They don't think so.

AL-RUBAIE: Well, they're a principal partner in the whole process of negotiation, and I don't think the Sunni community at large will reject federal system. I think we need a couple of weeks to sell this idea. It's a new idea admittedly, and there is a probably 40 to 60 percent in the Sunni community who out of not understanding the proper word of federalism, they are going to reject it. But I'm sure in the next few weeks, we will have a very good selling process, and we're going to market this idea to our community.

VERJEE: If you need a couple of weeks or even more than that to market, as you say, this idea to the Sunnis, does is that going to mean that there will be another delay or another extension to buy you that time? AL-RUBAIE: No, I don't think so. I don't think we need that, the extra time. I think we have agreed with the Sunni delegation on the wording, and we have avoided the details, going into the details of the federalism, and the sharing of the national revenue as well and the national resources, and I think we will have a very good deal. We, the Iraqi people, because Arab Sunnis and Shias, (INAUDIBLE), we are going to have a very, very good deal, because everybody has to compromise on a good deal.

VERJEE: Is there a feeling -- is it your feeling that the U.S. is applying too much pressure to meet this their deadline and to get a deal done quickly?

AL-RUBAIE: Well, the United States are making a brokerage roll, if you like. They're providing alternative text, alternative wording. They're providing logistical support. They're doing a lot of brokerage work and going in between different parties, getting different communities and different community leaders together in the meeting. So I think they are doing a good job, and the embassy in Baghdad, or the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, is doing a very good job.

VERJEE: Mowaffak Al-Rubaie, Iraq's national security chief.

The agreement of the Sunnis really viewed by many as absolutely critical in terms of appeasing the wider Sunni Arab population in Iraq, as well as appeasing the insurgency that's made up mostly of Sunnis -- John.

MANN: Another story now that we've been watching closely all through the day, over the past few days, in fact. Israeli troops are now on their way to the West Bank for the next phase of the disengagement. Settlers have already left two of four settlements marked for evacuation, and all of Gaza has now apparently been emptied of settlers, and Israel is still bracing for possible violence in two settlements in the West Bank.

Paula Hancocks joins us now from Jerusalem with more on that -- Paula.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, John.

Well, there are worries that there could be a violent finale to the evacuation of these settlements. Four left to go in the West Bank, the only four that are being dismantled in the West Bank. As you say, two are practically deserted, and there are two, Sonora (ph) and Hamesh (ph), which security forces are worried could be troublespots.

Now there was a press conference just a few moments ago by one of the central commanders, and he said that most of the families had already left this particular settlement, but over the past months, there have been a hardcore of ultranationalist, ultra-religious Jews, youths mainly, who had infiltrated at this particular two settlements, and it did look as though they could be a little feistier than some of the settlers themselves. There are worries that they may have arms inside, and there are worries that they are stockpiling food, they are stockpiling water. Now there could be up to about 5,000 security forces that will be engaged in this particular disengagement, as Ariel Sharon calls it, process. They say that they will deal with it with sensitivity, but they will also deal with it with determination.

Now the security forces do say that they have to come to an agreement with the rabbis in the area and also with the settler leaders. Now the settler leaders say they won't have any violence. They do not condone violence, and they will not be involved in any of that, but they are not the part of this particular settlement that the security forces are worried about.

This could be the last bastion of resistance for the protesters themselves. They would want to show pictures across the world that would be traumatic. They want to show the absolute trauma of pulling these evacuations down because they want to try to make sure that Ariel Sharon does not go any further.

Now in his half, Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, has said that there won't be any more unilateral evacuations. He spoke to the troops on Sunday evening, to congratulate them on what they had done so far, and he also said that now he wants to go to the negotiation table, he wants to make sure that the Palestinians as well stick to their part of the road map to peace, and that is that Palestinian militants disarm and disband.

But the other side of the road map to peace, of course, is that Israeli settlements do not expand, and the building of those Israeli settlements does not increase, although Ariel Sharon has said he would keep the big settlements in the West Bank and he would expand them -- John.

MANN: Paula, it may be premature to ask you this, but so far at least, this process has gone remarkably well. There's been very little violence, very little opposition, and it's way ahead of schedule. How are Israelis responding to that. Are they surprised?

HANCOCKS: Well, most Israelis, you must remember, did actually support this evacuation. All the recent polls show the majority were behind Sharon's plan. Everyone is surprised that it has gone as quickly as it has done. Even the Israeli military penned out about three weeks to make sure that they would meet that deadline. September the 4th, they said, would be the time when they would have evacuated all of the Jewish settlers out of those 21 settlements in Gaza, and the four from the West Bank.

But in actual fact, Gaza itself took just five days for them, and it was a lot more peaceful than many people had dared hope for. So it has gone better so far than anticipated, but the security force are warning that there could be some trouble spots in the West Bank itself. Also because some of the protesters, in trying to get to the West Bank, in these settlements, are going to Palestinian areas, and the police and the military have to go in after them to check they're OK. That could be a possible explosive situation -- John.

MANN: Paula Hancocks in Jerusalem, thanks very much -- Zain. VERJEE: Jonathan, Jordanian officials say they found what they believe is the rocket launcher used in Friday's attack that targeted U.S. ships in the port of Aqaba. Officials say that they found the launcher, along with unlaunched rockets in the warehouse. They also said several people, including Iraqis, Egyptians, Syrians and Jordanians have been represented.

Shortly after the attacks, an Al Qaeda group claimed responsibility, rather, for the attack, but CNN can't confirm the authenticity of the claim.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MANN: Thousands of firefighters in Portugal are struggling to contain enormous wildfires, at least 30 of them in fact.

VERJEE: All right, Femi Oke is monitoring the situation, and she joins us now -- Femi.

FEMI OKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello there to you both. Hello to our viewers around the world.

Let me take you across through toward the Iberian peninsula. This is Portugal, and this is Spain. If I stand back, you can see something very weird is happening. Up toward the north, across through to central and Eastern Europe, that's where the rain is moving, and moving along quite nicely, some sunny skies there as well. But the Iberian peninsula, here remains very, very dry. This weather phenomena has been happening, not just for the last week, but for months and months and months.

And normally at this time of year, European tourists flock towards Spain, toward Portugal, because of the heat, because of the dry weather conditions, but this year that has proved to be a deadly combination.

From Portugal, CNN's Al Goodman has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AL GOODMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nerves on edge as a wildfire approaches. Huge chunks of northern and central Portugal in flames, while the nation suffers its worst drought in decades.

The fires Monday even threatened the outskirts of the historic university city of Coinbra (ph), population 150,000.

"We've been rushing here," says this woman, "but the hose has no pressure."

There's plenty of water in other hoses, but not enough firefighters. Some of the 3,000 firefighters who've been battling blazes nonstop are tired, prompting the president of Portugal himself to make an urgent appeal.

JORGE SAMPAIO, PORTUGUESE PRESIDENT (through translator): I appeal to all employers to relieve your employees for firefighting duties to help fight this terrible tragedy. We have a vast core of volunteers, and we need them all in the field.

GOODMAN: Dozens of Portuguese firefighting aircraft are being joined by planes or helicopters from France, Italy, Spain and Germany, after Portugal asked its European partners for help.

The fires have killed more than a dozen people, mostly firefighters. More land has burned in just the first eight months of this year in Portugal than during all of last year. Dozens of houses also have reportedly been destroyed, and there's no help expected from Mother Nature until midweek, when predictions are for slightly lower temperatures, less wind and possibly some rain, a seemingly distant hope for now.

Al Goodman, CNN, Madrid.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OKE: There are administrative districts in Portugal, 18 of those on high alert for wildfires. It gives you an idea of how serious that situation is. It has taken months for the drought to build up. It will take months for the rain to move in and alleviate that drought, and no sign of any rain quite yet. We'll have more on that story in the forthcoming weeks, of course.

Jonathan, back to you.

MANN: Femi, we've been reporting over the last few hours on what appears to be a deal that has majority support for a new draft constitution for Iraq. Let's go now to Baghdad where a member of the negotiating committee that's been working on that constitution. No, apparently we're not going there.

We will be back right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MANN: Welcome back. You're watching YOUR WORLD TODAY, an hour of world news on CNN International.

The man who carried out the 1996 Olympic Games bombing in Atlanta is in federal court awaiting sentencing. Eric Rudolph pleaded guilty this year to carrying out the blasts, as well as to detonating bombs at a women's clinic and a gay nightclub in Atlanta.

His attacks killed one person and wounded 122. We go live now to Tony Harris, outside the court in Atlanta where I gather we have been hearing from victims and their relatives -- Tony.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: That's right, Jonathan. We can tell you that the sentencing hearing for Eric Robert Rudolph wrapped up a little more than a half hour ago now, and Eric Rudolph did take the opportunity to speak to some of his victims and to the court. Rudolph said that responsibility for what happened at the park -- and when he says the park, it's important to note that the park he's referring to is Centennial Olympic Park, the site of the 1996 bombings in July of that year, during the Summer Olympic Games. He says he accepts full responsibility for the consequences of his actions. He said he would like to take that night in particular back, and to those particular victims, he said, "I apologize." He went on to say that "I can't imagine the pain I have inflicted on these people."

Now it's important to note here, Jonathan, that he seems only to be apologizing for the bombing that took place at Centennial Olympic Park, not for the other Atlanta-area bombings, one at a woman's clinic, and also at a gay and lesbian nightclub in midtown Atlanta.

Rudolph is clearly on the record as being opposed to abortion, and he holds nothing but contempt for the gay and lesbian lifestyle. He is clearly on the record with those opinions. He spoke for about seven minutes, and in that time, he said he tried to call 911 to inform police of the bomb in the park, but that he couldn't get through, and that he was cut off.

I've got to tell you that a lot of the victims inside the court referred to Rudolph as a small man who saw these bombings as an opportunity to be a big man. I believe we have a live shot of some of the victims speaking right now. Rudolph made very little eye contact with the victims as they spoke, choosing instead to talk to his attorney, in many cases, rather than listen to the statements from the victims.

We can also tell you, Jonathan, there was a lot of anger expressed in that courtroom, a lot of contempt for Eric Robert Rudolph. At 12:16, the hearing wrapped up, 12:16 Eastern Time here in downtown Atlanta, the hearing wrapped up, and Eric Rudolph was taken away by federal marshals -- John.

MANN: Tony Harris, thanks very much -- Zain.

VERJEE: Back to our top story, Jonathan, Iraq, where Kurdish and Shia negotiators say that they have come to some agreement. However, many Sunni leaders and negotiators saying that they have been left out of it, and that they won't accept it. That still remains to be seen.

Joining us now is the deputy speaker of the national assembly. His name is Hussein Shahristani.

Thanks so much for being with us.

Will Iraq have a draft constitution today?

HUSSEIN SHAHRISTANI, DEPUTY SPEAKER, IRAQI NATIONAL ASSEMBLY: Well, it's nighttime in Baghdad now, and we do hope that we'll have a draft constitution passed by the national assembly before midnight tonight yes.

VERJEE: What are the sticking points that have been agreed upon?

SHAHRISTANI: Well, the draft has been agreed upon by the United Iraqi Alliance and the Kurdish coalition. They are just preparing the final text before printing it and distributing it to the assembly members, and we'll convene very shortly to discuss it and adopt it, and then it can be put to the Iraqi people in a referendum by the 15th of October.

VERJEE: Does it is say Iraq will be a federal state?

SHAHRISTANI: Yes. It states that Iraq is going to be a federal state. Of course, at present we only have one federal region in the north, but the constitution stipulates for other governorates in the country, that they can join together and form federal regions.

VERJEE: Will Islam be the primary source of legislation?

SHAHRISTANI: Islam will be one of the primary sources of the legislation.

There is an article in the constitution that states that Islam will be one of the primary sources of the legislation, but also it states that legislations could not be passed if they violate basic human rights or democratic principles.

VERJEE: Has there been agreement on the sharing of oil?

SHAHRISTANI: ... in addition to Islam. I'm sorry?

VERJEE: Has there been agreement on how the oil wealth of the country will be shared? What is it?

SHAHRISTANI: Yes.

The oil and natural gas, the constitution very clearly states is the property of all the Iraqi people. It will be managed by the federal authority in cooperation with the producing regions, and the revenue from these natural resources will be distributed equitably among all the Iraqi people.

VERJEE: Many Sunni leaders are unhappy. They say they have been locked out of the negotiations and essentially excluded from any substantial discussion over the past week. How do you respond to that?

SHAHRISTANI: They have not been locked away from these constitutions. On the contrary, they have been invited to join the constitutional committee, although they have not been elected to the national assembly, and perhaps this is among the rare cases where a elected group actually invited nonelected members to join them in drafting the constitution.

They have joined and discussed all the articles. And I believe when the text will be made available to the Iraqi people from tomorrow, they would realize how much we have fought for the rights of the Sunni Arabs in Iraq to be protected in this constitution.

VERJEE: The deputy speaker of the national assembly, Hussein Shahristani, thank you so much for joining us from Baghdad -- Jonathan?

MANN: We asked you your opinion about the developments in Iraq. We take a break. When we come back, we'll share some.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERJEE: We like getting e-mails and we've got many from you, so thanks a lot.

You e-mailed us a lot of your opinions on Iraq and here's what some of them say.

MANN: Here's what one viewer in the United States had to say: "Without the Sunnis'..."

VERJEE: ... "involvement and the separation of Islam..."

MANN: ... "the Islamic sharia law from the state government" -- I apologize there -- "the new Iraq constitution is not worth the paper it's written on. The Bush administration and the American people must demand the Iraqis to implement this doctrine within their constitution. Otherwise, our troops," the viewer wrote, "have died in vain."

VERJEE: One viewer had a question about federalism and said, "Every report talks about federalism as a key ingredient in the Iraqi draft constitution. I wish someone would clearly explain what exactly it means in this context."

MANN: "I believe that the U.S. military must remain in Iraq," another viewer wrote, "to help prevent the insurgents from turning Iraq into another Somalia or perhaps worse, into another post-Soviet Afghanistan."

VERJEE: Ywt@cnn.com if you want to send us your e-mails and your opinions. It's always good to hear from you.

MANN: This has been YOUR WORLD TODAY on CNN International.

I'm Jonathan Mann.

VERJEE: And I'm Zain Verjee.

Thanks so much for watching.

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