[JURIST] Some of the 55 delegates to the Iraqi constitutional drafting committee [official website] are expressing pessimism about their ability to overcome ideological differences in time to have a working document ready for review by National Assembly on August 15, countering earlier statements by the head of the committee [JURIST report]. The committee was recently expanded by adding fifteen unelected Sunnis and one member of a smaller religious sect [JURIST report] to the predominantly Shiite body, and some members feel that this addition has complicated the debate on issues such as women's rights, federalism, and the role of religion. A Christian member of the team highlighted the difficulty in working through the federalist problem, noting that the Sunnis are suspicious of Kurdish efforts to expand their autonomy. VOA has more.