U.S. Ambassador Hopeful About New Constitution Deadline

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The New York Sun

BAGHDAD, Iraq – After granting themselves an extra week to complete a draft constitution, Iraqi leaders yesterday joined America’s ambassador to the country, Zalmay Khalilzad in painting the missed deadline as an opportunity, not a failure.


Mr. Khalilzad acknowledged he was “personally disappointed” that Monday’s deadline had not been met but said he was confident an agreement could be reached by August 22. Prime Minister al-Jaafari said political groups still had “some differences in views on details, but not on the main principles or major issues.”


But despite the positive public front, many participants in the negotiations said deep fissures remained among Iraq’s main factions on topics as fundamental to the charter as the role of Islam in determining law, and the level of autonomy to be granted to regional governments.


After voting for an extension Monday just before midnight, some informal discussions resumed yesterday among leaders of the country’s largest political blocs; broader negotiations were slated to resume today at 10 a.m.


Some politicians questioned whether seven extra days would be enough time to reach an agreement. Others suggested that a lack of desire to compromise might be a larger barrier to a deal among parties that have seemed to harden their stances in recent days.


“The main question is not the length of the extension period, but rather whether there is political will, resolve, and flexibility to make hard decisions,” a Shiite Muslim member of the 71-member constitution-writing commission, Ali Dabbagh, said. “In the absence of good intentions, a week or longer would not be enough.”


Elsewhere in Iraq yesterday, the American military announced that three soldiers died Monday in a vehicle accident in Baghdad. And Mr. al-Jaafari said in a news conference that he had signed papers authorizing the execution of the first three men sentenced to death in Iraq since capital punishment was restored last year. The three insurgents were convicted in May by a criminal court in Kut, southeast of Baghdad of the kidnappings and killings of policemen, and of raping Iraqi women. The sentences will be carried out soon, Mr. al-Jaafari said.


Mr. Khalilzad, who has played an increasingly active role in constitutional deliberations, said in an afternoon news conference that he would continue to make himself available “if my help is needed.”


The ambassador listed several key issues on which he said all parties largely agreed. Among them were the role of Islam and the concept of federalism, two points which interviews with Iraqi politicians suggested were still far from settled.


In response to the apparent discrepancy between optimism expressed by American and Iraqi officials and the differences that some politicians insist remain, Mr. Khalilzad cautioned reporters not to “take seriously the posturing that goes on outside” negotiations.


He said, for example, that the Kurdish regional parliament’s controversial stated demand for the right of self-determination – widely considered a proxy for an eventual push for independence – had not been mentioned in meetings he attended and was “not on the table at the present time.” Many news reports have suggested that the Kurds’ demand had emerged as a main sticking point.


Some Shiites, who hold a majority in the country and its legislature, have said in recent days that they were prepared to push through a constitution over the objections of other blocs, particularly Sunni Muslim Arabs. But Mr. Khalilzad said “an agreement that will exclude a major community, that is not in the cards.”


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