[JURIST] A group of 50 Sunni Muslim religious, political, and tribal leaders Thursday endorsed a list of 15 men to sit on a special committee to help draft Iraq's new constitution [JURIST news archive]. The announcement ends any debate over whether improperly endorsed appointments [JURIST report] should be deemed invalid. The 15 men, whose appointment was anticipated by a Sunni spokesman [JURIST report] Wednesday after agreement with Shiite and Kurd leaders, will be joined by a single representative for the small Sabian community [Wikipedia backgrounder] and the 16-person group will work with the current 55-member body composed of elected legislators. The unconventional set-up [JURIST report] was a result of a general Sunni boycott of the January elections leaving them with a disproportionately small number of representatives. AP has more.