Baghdad, Iraq ? A chapter of Iraq’s draft constitution obtained by The Associated Press on Monday gives Islam a major role in Iraqi civil law, raising concerns that women could lose rights in marriage, divorce and inheritance.

The proposal also appears to rule out non-governmental militias, an area addressed Monday by the new U.S. ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad. Urging Iraqis to build national institutions, he said there is no place for factional forces that “build the infrastructure for a future civil war.”

The civil law section, one of six to make up Iraq’s new charter, covers the rights and duties of citizens and public and private freedoms. The language in the chapter is not final, but members of the charter drafting committee said there was agreement on most of its wording.

Committee members have been rushing to complete the constitution so the Iraqi National Assembly can set the final wording by Aug. 15. Parliament’s version would be put to a public vote by mid-October, and if approved, elections would follow by the year’s end.

The drafting panel’s efforts got a boost Monday when its 12 Sunni Arab members ended a boycott, easing fears the document might be rejected by the ethnic community at the heart of the insurgency.

A woman grieves for the victims of Sunday's suicide bombing as their coffins are carried past the site of the attack during a funeral procession Monday in Baghdad, Iraq. A chapter of Iraq's draft constitution gives Islam a major role in Iraqi civil law, raising concerns that women could lose rights.

Sunni Arab support is crucial because the charter can be scuttled if voters in three of Iraq’s 18 provinces reject it by a two-thirds majority – and Sunni Arabs are a majority in four provinces. Sunni Arabs make up about 20 percent of Iraq’s 27 million people but dominate areas where the insurgency is raging.

A Sunni member of the constitutional commission, Saleh al-Mutlaq, told AP that he and his 11 colleagues agreed to resume work after receiving assurances from the government that their grievances would be addressed.

Most worrying for women’s groups has been the section on civil rights, which some feel would significantly roll back women’s rights under a 1959 civil law enacted by a secular regime.

In the copy obtained by AP, Article 19 of the second chapter says “the followers of any religion or sect are free to choose their civil status according to their religious or sectarian beliefs.”

Shiite Muslim leaders have pushed for a stronger role for Islam in civil law but women’s groups argue that could base legal interpretations on stricter religious lines that are less favorable toward women.

Under Islamic law, a woman gets half of what a man would get when it comes to inheritance. Men also have the power when it comes to initiating divorces.

Committee members said Monday they had taken account of women’s concerns, but said they were not planning to make changes since the National Assembly will have final say on the wording.

Last week, Qassim Dawoud, a member of former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi’s secular bloc in parliament, told reporters: “I can assure that (there will be) no humiliation to the rights of women in the new Iraq.”

A U.S. soldier was killed Monday when a roadside bomb exploded under his vehicle near Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, the U.S. command said. At least 1,778 U.S. military personnel have died since the Iraq war began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.