Baghdad, Iraq – Framers of Iraq’s new constitution struggled Sunday over whether to ask for more time for their work, facing a deadline in 15 days and with many fundamental questions still unresolved.
Shiite Arab, Kurdish and Sunni delegates must announce by today whether they want an extension of up to a half-year. Washington has lobbied hard against any delay, which it says would set back plans for a significant U.S. troop withdrawal by spring and shift more momentum in Iraq to insurgents.
Violence across Iraq on Saturday and Sunday killed at least 25 people – including five Marines killed by bombs, and 11 insurgents reported killed by Marines.
Delegates to the constitutional committee said Sunday that they had begun talk of a 30-day extension, despite adamant statements from Western and Iraqi officials just the day before that the draft would be completed by the Aug. 15 deadline.
The proposal for a delay appeared to catch at least some U.S. officials by surprise. President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, went into a meeting with U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and issued a statement after demanding “maximum efforts be exerted” to finish the work on time.
Any delay would have “serious implications to the security situation,” Barham Salih, a cabinet minister, said.
The delegates have to decide on several complex issues, including a Kurdish-led push for a federal system, the extent of religious influence, Kurdish territorial demands, and a new electoral system.
The name of the country itself remains unsettled after a summer of debate, with Shiites seeking a variation that includes “Islamic Republic.”
Iraqis are scheduled to vote on the draft constitution in October and on a new government in December. Adil Lami, head of the electoral commission, announced Sunday that voting would be limited to Iraqis living inside Iraq.
Insurgent attacks have increased since Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari’s interim government took office in late April with a mandate to come up with a constitution.
Gunmen on Sunday attacked the convoy of Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi south of Baghdad. The ambush killed a Chalabi bodyguard.
Chalabi, a repeated target of assassination attempts, was not in the convoy, party spokesman Intifadh Qanabr said.
A car bomb exploded south of Baghdad, killing five civilians.
Two other bombings in southern Baghdad killed five U.S. Marines Saturday, the U.S. military said.
U.S. Marines used tanks and jet aircraft to attack insurgents who fired at a patrol with machine guns from a schoolhouse near Hadithah, 140 miles northwest of Baghdad. Marines said 11 insurgents were killed.
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