IRAQ started enforcing tough travel and security restrictions yesterday to allow its citizens to brave terrorist threats and vote in the national constitutional referendum on Saturday.

The national state of alert will include curfews, a ban on weapons in public and the closure of border crossings in an attempt to thwart al-Qaeda’s vow to turn the referendum into a bloodbath. More than 70,000 Iraqi soldiers and policemen will be deployed across the country.

Sunni leaders are urging their followers to vote the constitution down, saying that it could lead to the disintegration of the country. They believe that it would grant too much autonomy in the Kurdish north and the Shia south, leading to a division of the country and leaving them impoverished in the barren deserts of the west.

But they realise that their boycott of the previous elections allowed Kurds and Shias to dominate the Government and security forces. As a result, many Sunni organisations have shied away from calling for a boycott this time.

Instead the Association of Muslim Scholars, the spiritual guide of the Sunni community, has urged its flock “to do everything they legitimately can to reject the draft of the constitution”. Just by joining the political process their vote will mark a serious blow against terrorists bitterly opposed to democracy.

For the constitution to be voted down, two thirds of the electorate in three out of 18 provinces must vote against it — a long shot for the Sunnis, who make up about 20 per cent of the population but whose areas form the backbone of the insurgency.

Laith Kubba, a spokesman for the Government, said that it did not matter whether Sunnis voted for the constitution or not, as long as they voted. “The most important thing is for Iraqis to take part,” he said.

Many analysts believe that a “no” vote would be a boost for Iraqi democracy, plagued as it is by ethnic divisions, militias and civil strife. If the constitution is passed Sunnis will feel even more disgruntled and the insurgency against the Government of religious Shias could explode into a civil war. If it is voted down, Sunnis will have flexed their political muscle and may turn out in large numbers in December to elect a new interim government with a more inclusive approach.

Although Mr Kubba said that five million copies of the constitution were being distributed, nobody whom The Times interviewed had received one.

Omar Mohammed, a 28-year-old Sunni, said that he knew “nothing about this draft they are supposed to be distributing”. But he already knew enough about the constitution to reject it. “This constitution, if it passes, will divide the country and bring chaos,” he said.

IN DISPUTE

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