An all-party panel will propose amendments on federalism

"An agreement has been reached by all the political parties," Khaled al-Attiya, an aide to Shia deputy parliament speaker, said on Sunday.

"They agreed to hold the first reading of the bill on federal regions on Tuesday, but will not be able to implement it until 18 months after parliament approves it."

He also said a committee would be formed on Monday to start reviewing possible amendments to the constitution - a key demand of the Sunni minority.

"It will be formed and the day after the federalism bill will be read," Adnan al-Dulaimi, the Accordance Front leader, said.

Shia and Sunni politicians confirmed the deal but some said they still had reservations on the proposed draft that will be given to parliament on Tuesday.

Treating the problem

"We don't think this 18 month time-frame will do much to treat the problem, we need to agree on what the bill will say," said Hasan al-Shimmari, a spokesman for the small Shia party, Fadhila.

The committee will be made up of 12 representatives of the alliance, four from the Accordance Front, five Kurds, two members of Ayad Allawi's secular party, one member of Saleh al-Mutlaq's National Dialogue Front, one representative of the Yazidi minority religious sect, one Christian, and one Turkoman.

The committee will be headed by a member of the Sunni Accordance front.

The committee has four months to propose amendments, which then have to be approved by an absolute majority in parliament before being put to a referendum.

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