[JURIST] Of the 15 Sunni Muslims joining members of the committee to construct Iraq's new constitution [JURIST news archive], two are accused of being former senior members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party [Wikipedia backgrounder] while two others have indicated that they supported it, according to a report in Friday's New York Times. The new constitution, which, by law, the committee must write by August 15, 2005 [JURIST report] or seek an extension, is already facing problems over Kurdish autonomy and the role of Islam in the document. Of the two Sunnis accused of being former party members, Mijbel Sheik Isa denies ever being a member of the party and claims the other man, Hasseb Aref, while once a member, never held a senior position. The New York Times has more.