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Iraqis promising a constitution by the
deadline
1.8.2005
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BAGHDAD, Iraq, -
Under intense American pressure, Iraqi leaders
agreed Sunday to finish writing the country's
constitution by the middle of August, raising the
possibility that they will leave unresolved some of
the fiercest disagreements over the future of the
Iraqi state.
The 71 Iraqis empowered to write the constitution
turned down a proposal to extend the Aug. 15
deadline by six months, an extension that some
Iraqis contend is necessary to help bridge the vast
differences that still divide Iraq's Shiites, Sunnis
and Kurds.
Among the most divisive issues are the rights of
women, the role of Islam and the scope and reach of
Kurdish self-rule.
Sticking to the Aug. 15 deadline is favored by the
Americans, but it runs the risk that some of the
most contentious issues facing the country will be
left to fester.
"The decision has been taken, and there will be no
extensions," said Mutlak, a Sunni member of the
drafting committee. "Frankly, if we took six more
months, it wouldn't make much a difference. What we
need is a better attitude from all the leaders to
bring this agreement together."
Keeping the political process on track is central to
the Bush administration's desire to begin drawing
down the number of American troops here by early
spring. If the political process continues apace, a
new government would be elected to a full term,
under the new constitution, in December.
Despite the constitutional committee's resolve to
meet the deadline, some members were discussing
whether to seek a shorter delay of about 30 days to
complete their work. The committee has until the end
of Monday to ask the National Assembly for more
time.
The events on Sunday unfolded amid renewed
diplomatic efforts by the Americans to persuade the
Iraqis to stick to the Aug. 15 deadline at almost
any cost. Extending the deadline, American officials
have argued, would probably prolong the
constitutional stalemate rather than resolve it,
alienate more Iraqis and help the insurgency. The
more contentious issues could best be dealt with by
an elected legislature, the American officials say.
Moreover, the Americans are concerned that if the
more extreme versions of the contested provisions
actually make it into the Iraqi constitution, that
could set the conditions for civil war. "What we are
stressing is the value of a pared-down version of
the constitution, without the bells and whistles," a
senior Bush administration official involved in
Iraqi affairs said in Washington last week. "We
don't think the constitution is where a lot of these
issues belong." The official would not allow his
name to be used because to do so would it violate
administration policy.
The American efforts were in evidence on Sunday
afternoon, when the Iraqi president, Jalal Talabani,
emerged from a meeting with the new American
ambassador here, Zalmay Khalilzad, and proclaimed
his fealty to the Aug. 15 deadline.
That meeting was the latest in a series of
initiatives by senior American officials to play a
more active role in helping along the Iraqi
democratic process, which they contend is the
country's best hope for reconciling the divergent
desires of Iraq's ethnic and sectarian groups.
The American effort mirrors the one pursued in the
negotiations last year over the interim
constitution. That document, which provides the
framework for Iraq's transition to full democratic
rule, avoided addressing several contentious issues,
like the future of the contested city of Kirkuk.
But this time around, the American strategy to set
aside the most delicate issues is risky. The
American pressure appears to have already alienated
a number of Iraqi leaders, who warn that the
country's differences can be set aside only at great
peril.
"The Americans are the ones who want to have this
done quickly," said Mahmood Othman, a Kurdish member
of the Iraqi National Assembly and a member of the
constitutional drafting committee. "And they are
doing it so they can begin to implement their exit
strategy."
"We would prefer to resolve all these issues in the
constitution," Mr. Othman said.
He warned that if the major issues dear to the
Kurdish leadership were not resolved in the
constitution, then the Kurdish people might exercise
their right to nullify the entire document when it
is put to Iraqi voters in an October referendum.
Under the rules agreed on by the Iraqis last year,
if a two-thirds majority in three Iraqi provinces
votes against the constitution, it will fail. The
Kurds constitute a majority in three provinces in
northern Iraq. The Kurdish leadership has suggested
that Kurdish voters will reject a constitution that
does not to address several of the issues that are
now unresolved.
One is the desire of the Kurdish leaders to expand
the area under the control of the Kurdish autonomous
region. Kurdish leaders say they will insist that a
number of majority Kurdish areas, like Mahmoor in
northern Iraq, be turned over to their control. Arab
leaders staunchly oppose such a move.
Another unresolved Kurdish issue is the status of
the ethnically fractious city of Kirkuk, from which
tens of thousands of Kurds were expelled by Saddam
Hussein's government and replaced by Arab migrants.
The Kurds have been returning home by the thousands,
but most of the Arabs have stayed put.
Kurdish leaders say they want the Iraqi constitution
to spell out a process by which the "Arabization" of
the region will be reversed, the Kurds resettled and
a plebiscite held to determine whether the region
will come under Kurdish control.
Many Arab leaders oppose Kurdish plans for the
region. They say the issue should be left for the
National Assembly, which is likely to be dominated
by Arabs, who make up an overwhelming majority of
the Iraqi population.
"We can talk about Kirkuk later," said Bahaa Al-Aaraji,
a Shiite member of the constitutional drafting
committee.
Some of the issues bedeviling the framers of the
Iraqi constitution are symbolic but still explosive.
One is the name of the new Iraqi state; some
committee members want to call it the Federal
Islamic Republic of Iraq. Others, especially the
Kurds, are opposed to the word "Islamic" in the name
because they advocate a stricter separation between
religion and the state.
The Kurds also oppose efforts by some Shiites and
Sunnis to put a phrase in the constitution declaring
Iraq to be "a member of the Arab nation." The Kurds,
who speak their own language, are not Arabs.
As the debate over the constitution continued,
violence around Iraq continued. The American
military said that five American soldiers were
killed Saturday in two attacks in Baghdad.
One American soldier was killed and two were wounded
when a roadside bomb exploded under a Humvee that
was passing through the restive neighborhood of Al
Doura. Four Americans were killed when their Humvee
struck a roadside bomb southeast of Baghdad
International Airport about 11 p.m. Saturday.
In Haswa, south of Baghdad, seven people were killed
and 12 were wounded Sunday when a car laden with
explosives blew up near a crowd at a sheep market.
Witnesses said three men had parked the car nearby
and detonated the payload by remote control.
Also Sunday, gunmen in Latifiya, a predominantly
Sunni town south of Baghdad, opened fire on a convoy
of the Iraqi National Congress, the party of Iraq's
deputy prime minister Ahmad Chalabi. One Iraqi
commando was killed and three others were wounded.
An aide said Mr. Chalabi and other senior party
officials were not in the convoy, Reuters reported.
The motive of the attack was unclear.
www.nytimes.com
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