Sunni Arabs in Iraq have agreed to rejoin talks to agree a new constitution in the hope of rescuing a political process severely strained by continued militant violence.
The Sunnis walked out of the talks last week after one of their committee members was shot dead, but at talks yesterday, they secured pledges of better security and an inquiry into the assassination.
The speaker of parliament announced the compromise in a signed statement.
US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld, speaking to reporters on his way to visit Kyrgyzstan, said he expected the constitution to be drafted by the crucial August 15th deadline.
"The Sunnis and the Shias and the Kurds are all working very hard on the constitution. They're going to get the job done. They will have a constitution, in my view," he said.
Iraq's government and its US sponsors hoped the presence of Sunnis on the constitution-writing team would help to defuse an insurgency being led by members of the 20-per cent minority, which dominated Iraq under Saddam Hussein.
Fifteen Sunni members were drafted on to the committee last month, joining members drawn from a parliament mainly made up of Shias and Kurds - elected in a January vote when most Sunnis stayed at home because of a boycott or fear of reprisals.
Two suicide car bombers struck police checkpoints in Baghdad yesterday, killing at least 15 people, while funerals were held for some of the estimated 40 victims of a truck bomb on Sunday.