Iraqi Shi'ite leaders say they have made their final compromise proposal to Sunni Arabs on the text of a new constitution.
A Shi'ite official said Friday the proposal addresses the two main Sunni Arab objections: federalism, and efforts to exclude former members of Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party from public life.
The announcement comes following a phone call from President Bush to Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, the leader of Iraq's largest Shi'ite party. The White House says it is doing everything it can to assist the Iraqis in moving the democratic process forward.
In other developments, the U.S. military launched multiple airstrikes Friday against a building sheltering about 50 suspected terrorists in the western province of Al-Anbar, close to the Syrian border.
No casualty figures were released.
Some information for this report provided by AP.
