Indefinite deadlines

Iraq's National Assembly has yet to agree on a draft constitution. But dates can only be stretched so far, writes Salah Hemeid

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The deadline set by the Iraqi National Assembly for endorsing the constitution ends today, with Iraq's Sunnis facing mounting pressure to approve the draft constitution.

On Wednesday Iraqi President Jalal Talabani held marathon talks with Sunni leaders who had rejected the draft constitution and denounced it as "illegal".

"We should respect the demands of Sunnis... the constitution must not serve particular sections of the population but the whole of Iraq," Talabani told reporters after the meeting.

Iraq's provisional parliament received a draft of the country's constitution three minutes before the second deadline of midnight on Monday. The 275-member assembly did not, however, vote on the charter. Speaker Hajim Al-Hassani told the assembly, which had gathered shortly before midnight, that while the text of the document had been received, the final wording had still to be worked out and the deadline would therefore be extended for three days.

Al-Hassani acknowledged that those charged with drafting the constitution had failed to reach a consensus though he initially shied away from elucidating the points of disagreement. Later he told reporters that the disagreement was focussed on federalism, de- Baathification and power sharing.

The original deadline for the writing of a constitution was 15 August. Following four months of intensive debate, and no agreement, that deadline was extended by a week. On Monday it was effectively extended for a further three days as negotiators sought to hammer out a formula acceptable to all Iraq's ethnic and sectarian groups.

The three-day delay was aimed at obtaining the agreement of Iraq's Sunni Arabs. Kurds and Shias control 215 seats in the assembly, sufficient to endorse the draft, but without the support of Sunnis, who comprise an estimated 20 per cent of the population, the constitution has little chance of being ratified in the 15 October referendum. Under the provisional state law the constitution will be voted down if it is opposed by two- thirds of the electorate in three or more of Iraq's 18 provinces. Sunni Arabs form the majority in at least four provinces, and are mobilising for a much stronger showing than in the 30 January elections, which they boycotted. In some areas the Sunni turnout was as low as two per cent, leaving them underrepresented, with just 17 seats in the assembly and a limited role on the committee charged with drafting the constitution. Now, though, Iraq's electoral commission is opening registration centres in Sunni towns where previously insurgents had threatened to kill the commission's workers and anyone who voted.

Sunni objections focus mainly on federalism, which they fear could divide Iraq and cut them off from most of the country's vast oil wealth.

"We will stand against anyone who wants to divide Iraq and fulfil this grand plot against the country," Adnan Al-Dulaimi, a leading Sunni figure, told reporters on Wednesday. "We are determined to safeguard the unity of Iraq. We call on all Iraqis to work together to maintain Iraq's unity."

They have also insisted that the constitution must drop any reference to a continued policy of de-Baathification.

Having failed to persuade their Kurdish and Shia counterparts to take their demands on board Sunni representatives in the assembly appealed to the US and international community for help in preventing a draft constitution being pushed through the assembly without Sunni consent. Yet with only "a few hours left to announce the draft there is no evidence of serious coordination," said a statement issued by the 15-member Sunni bloc.

US President George Bush urged Sunnis to accept a deal that "secured peace". "The Sunnis have got to make a choice -- do they want to live in a society that is free or do they want to live in violence?" said Bush, who is facing growing domestic pressure to demonstrate some success in Iraq.

The new constitution might also have opponents among Iraqis who have expressed concern about its declaration that Iraq is an Islamic state and that no law can contradict Islamic tenets. Though the draft also prohibits any laws deemed to run counter to the principles of democracy many secular Iraqis fear the stress on the Islamic component of legislation will be used to limit freedoms and encourage discrimination against women and minorities. They are also concerned about the majority Shia pushing for a largely autonomous region in the oil-rich south.

Iraq's leaders have said they are confident on securing an agreement over the final wording of the draft constitution. They know, as does the rest of the population, that failure to resolve the differences between the country's main political, sectarian and ethnic groups and reach consensus will plunge the political process into paralysis, and Iraq deeper into anarchy.