"They cannot have a double interpretation in the same sentence," the UN advisor said.

BAGHDAD, October 4, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – The United Nations blasted Tuesday, October 4, new changes introduced to the Iraqi electoral law making it harder for Iraqis to reject the draft constitution through tricky wording, with the US expressing reservations.

"We have expressed our position to the National Assembly and to the leadership of the government and told them that the decision that was taken was not acceptable and would not meet international standards," Jose Aranaz, a legal adviser to the UN electoral team in Iraq , told Reuters.

The Iraqi parliament approved on Sunday October 2, new rules specifying that it would require a simple majority of those turning out to vote to approve the draft constitution, while it would take two-thirds of those registered to vote in at least three provinces to vote no in order for it to be rejected.

The original article reads: "The general referendum will be successful and the draft constitution ratified if a majority of the voters in Iraq approve and if two-thirds of the voters in three or more governorates do not reject it."

The Iraqi parliament changed the rules to read "voter" in the first instance and "registered voter" in the second, making it more difficult for those opposed to the draft constitution to reject it.

"They cannot have a double interpretation in the same sentence," the UN advisor said.

"The interpretation, which we asked for two and a half months ago, came late and it came wrong," he stressed.

Sunni leaders hit out at the new amendments as a "brazen forgery" to block an anticipated Sunni "no" vote.

Numerous Sunni Arab political and religious leaders have already called for voting down the constitution basically because they believe that its federalist provisions will divide the country.

Sunni Arabs form a majority in Al-Anbar, Nineveh and Salahudin provinces and could have easily, under the original wording, defeated the new charter in the mid-October referendum.

Reservations

McCormack said the Iraqi parliament should stick to the spirit and the letter of the original article.

In Washington , State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the Iraqi parliament should stick to the spirit and the letter of the original article.

He added that what the National Assembly did was "arrive at an interpretation of the law, and that interpretation is now subject to discussion between the electoral commission on one side and the National Assembly on the other."

McCormack said whatever the result of their discussions may be "they should aim to broaden the political consensus".

US Ambassador in Baghdad Zalmay Khalilzad has been pressing political factions for last-minute amendments to the text to encourage at least some Sunnis Arabs to vote for it.

Amendments remain possible until the very last minute, or at least until such a time as the draft is printed in local newspapers, a Western official who declined to be named told AFP.

The final draft of the new constitution has been handed over to the UN for printing and distribution after being endorsed by the Shiites and Kurds, who hold a sweeping majority in the parliament.