Glee and Anger Greet Iraq's Draft Charter

Glee and Anger Greet Iraq's Draft Charter:

"The constitution's treatment of Islamic law and of women also drew objections and a defense.

The draft says no law can contradict the principles of Islam and leaves it open for individuals to decide whether inheritance, divorce and marriage would be governed by religious or civil law. Opponents say those provisions threaten women's rights, potentially leaving them subject to the edicts of extremist clerics.

'Women, they lost hugely in this constitution,' said National Assembly Chairman Hachim Hasani, a Sunni who represented the demands of women's groups during the constitutional debates.

'Women had more rights in the past regime than they had now,' Hasani said."