Iraq team considers constitution delay

Published: 8:35AM Monday August 01, 2005 Source: Reuters

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The team drawing up Iraq's new constitution considered giving itself more time to write the document on Sunday, but still looked set to meet its mid-August deadline under intense US pressure.
   
The drafting of the constitution is a major plank in the US administration's plans for democracy in Iraq and is seen as perhaps the best chance for a political end to the insurgency. Violence, however, continued unabated on Sunday, with a car bomb killing seven people at a police checkpoint near Baghdad.
   
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, flanked by US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, told reporters it was essential that the US- backed timetable for writing the constitution was met and the document presented to parliament by the deadline of August 15.
   
Many of the 71 members on the drafting committee say they need more time, while others say the priority is meeting the deadline. The debate has come to a head because any extension must be requested by August 1.
   
The committee met all day on Sunday to consider whether it should ask for more time, but could not reach a decision. Members said they would meet again on Monday.
   
At the same time, they said committee chairman Humam Hammoudi would meet Talabani and the speaker of parliament to discuss the issue. An application for an extension has to be made by Hammoudi to the speaker.
   
Just as there are deep divisions among committee members over what should be in the constitution, there are profound differences of opinion over whether there should be a delay. 
   
Timetable for transition
   
According to Iraq's interim constitution, drawn up last year with the help of US and British diplomats, an extension of six months can be requested.
   
If a delay is granted, it would set back the timetable for Iraq's transition to democracy, a schedule the United States is very keen for the country's politicians stick to. During a visit to Baghdad last week, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was insistent about the timetable being met.
   
The schedule calls for the draft constitution to be written by August 15, put to a referendum by October 15 and elections for a new government to be held under the charter by December 15.
   
While some favour a delay, there is by no means unanimity among committee members. Many Sunni Arabs are staunchly opposed.
   
Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish member of the team, said he did not believe a draft would be ready by August 1, as Hammoudi hoped. While he said an extension might be needed, he did not believe one would be requested.
   
"The Americans want to make a quick constitution," he said, adding that US officials were putting intense pressure on the drafters. However, he cautioned: "They have a lot of experience in fast food, but they can't make a fast constitution."
   
US officials see a peaceful political process - symbolised by Shi'ites, Sunni Arabs and Kurds getting together to write a constitution, despite the violence - as the best way of putting an end to the Sunni-led insurgency.
   
There has been little peace dividend so far. A car bomb at an Iraqi police checkpoint south of Baghdad killed seven people and wounded 12 on Sunday, while another car bomb in central Baghdad killed five and wounded 20 on Saturday.
   
Insurgents have threatened to kill Sunni Arabs who join the political process, and one Sunni Arab member of the constitution drafting team was assassinated this month, stalling its work.

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