Iraq announces new security measures

Politicians in Saddam Hussein's hometown, Tikrit, passed out copies of the constitution and urged followers to vote "no," while the main Sunni political factions were holding a meeting in Baghdad, apparently to organise their efforts to defeat the charter at the polls.

Elsewhere, violence continued a day after bomb blasts killed six Marines and the US military announced that it had completed a major sweep in western Iraq aimed at suppressing al-Qaida militants before the constitutional vote. Two Iraqis were killed and 12 wounded yesterday in a series of roadside bombs and drive-by shootings nationwide.

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A delegation from the Arab League was arriving in Iraq on Saturday to get a firsthand look at the tensions ahead of a proposed Iraqi "national reconciliation" conference. It was the first time the organisation has tried to take a direct role in Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion.

"The situation is so tense there is a threat looming in the air about civil war that could erupt at any moment, although some people would say that it is already there," Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa told British Broadcasting Corp. radio in an interview yesterday.

"There is a policy to provoke and push communities against each other," Moussa said. "It is our policy in the Arab League that the time has come for us to talk seriously about bringing them together."