A day after failing to meet their deadline, Iraqi leaders expressed confidence on Tuesday that they will overcome differences over key issues such as the role of Islam and the power of regional governments and finish the new Constitution by next week.
Parliament voted on Monday to give negotiators until August 22 to try to draft the charter.
The delay was a strong rebuff of United States President George Bush’s insistence that the initial deadline be met, even if some issues were unresolved, to maintain political momentum and blunt Iraq’s deadly insurgency.
But the US ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, said agreement is close and he is optimistic that a deal will be reached by the new August 22 deadline.
”I believe that an agreement will be arrived at if the leaders continue with the attitude of compromising, putting oneself in the shoes of the other side,” Khalilzad told reporters in Baghdad. He said he expects talks to resume on Wednesday morning.
Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari also said disagreements are largely over details and he expressed confidence that Iraq’s Constitution could be finished within a week.
”I hope that we will not need another extension. The pending points do not need too much time and, God willing, we will finish it on time,” he said on Tuesday.
Fundamental parts of the charter have not been agreed on. Shi’ite lawmakers said the unresolved issues are women’s rights, an issue tied to Islam’s role in Iraq, and the right of Kurds to secede from the country eventually. But al-Jaafari said the key stumbling blocks are distribution of oil wealth and federalism, another broader way of stating Kurdish and Shi’ite demands for autonomy.
President Jalal Talabani’s office said no constitutional meetings were scheduled early on Tuesday but lawmakers may resume negotiations later in the day.
Kurdish leaders defended their push for self-determination, saying it has been a long-stated demand in talks. Kurds have suggested language giving them eight years within a unified Iraq and, after that, the right to secede.
”Kurdish politicians have no present intentions to gain independence. But we need self-determination in order to decide our future in case troubles erupt in Iraq in the future,” said Mullah Bakhtiyar, a senior official in the Kurdish Democratic Party.
”We are not making surprise or sudden demands; it is the Shi’ites who are doing so,” said Bakhtiyar, adding that Shi’ite leaders are pressing to grant special status to clerics. He said the proposal will be ”a dangerous thing because every sect will seek orders from its religious leadership and this means that there will be no rule by law or Constitution”.
Even if negotiators produce a Constitution in the next week, the wide divide over issues are unlikely to dissipate. The majority Shi’ites are vying for federalism, hoping to create an autonomous region in the south as Kurds have in the north — both areas rich in oil. Minority Sunni Arabs oppose federalism, fearing it could split the country, but some have showed willingness to compromise.
US officials played down the significance of the delay, and Bush expressed confidence the Iraqis will reach consensus.
”I applaud the heroic efforts of Iraqi negotiators and appreciate their work to resolve remaining issues through continued negotiation and dialogue,” Bush said in a statement. ”Their efforts are a tribute to democracy and an example that difficult problems can be solved peacefully through debate, negotiation and compromise.”
The US hopes progress on the political front, including adoption of a democratic constitution, will help deflate the Sunni Arab-led rebellion and enable the Americans and their partners to begin withdrawing troops next year.
Nevertheless, the last-minute decision to postpone the deadline raised serious questions about the ability of Iraq’s varied factions to make the necessary political compromises. Some Iraqi citizens are worried about the exposed fractures in the country’s leadership.
”We are disappointed because we risked our lives when we went out to polling stations, but now we see each political bloc searching for its own interests,” said Taha Sabir in Baghdad. ”We expected a better life, but we got only many crises such as electricity and fuel shortages.”
If agreement on a Constitution is reached, Iraqis will vote about October 15 to accept or reject the charter, leading to more elections in December for the country’s first new government under the new Constitution.
Separately, former prime minister Ayad Allawi’s Iraqi National Accord announced on Tuesday that Iraqi troops had clashed with the Shi’ite politician’s guards, leaving several guards injured.
An official at Allawi’s office, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not permitted to speak to be quoted, said the incident occurred on August 7 between soldiers and guards near the party’s main office in western Baghdad. It was not clear why the group waited more than a week to release the statement. — Sapa-AP