Shi'ite rebels wreck constitution ceremony

Iraq’s constitution was in limbo today after Shi’ite leaders refused to sign it in a last-minute dispute that wrecked a planned ceremony and marred a landmark in US plans to hand over sovereignty.

A spokesman for one of the Shi’ite parties said yesterday that no signing would take place before Monday, giving time for members to consult Shi’ite Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani – who has already forced two major revisions in US plans to transfer power to the Iraqis.

The manoeuvre by five Shi’ite members of the Iraqi Governing Council - including the current council president and Ahmad Chalabi – broke the unity that the body showed earlier this week when it overcame deep differences to unanimously agree on a draft of the charter.

It also highlighted the power that al-Sistani wields over the political process because of his considerable influence over Iraq’s Shi’ite majority.

A statement distributed by the governing council said the members would reconvene on Monday “to finalise” outstanding issues “and sign” the interim charter. However, it was unclear whether the final hurdles could be overcome according to the statement’s timetable.

Along with top US administrator Paul Bremer, council members negotiated in private in an attempt to resolve the Shi’ite objections. But seven hours after the ceremony had been set to take place, a coalition spokesman said no deal was reached and gave no date for the signing.

The council’s squabbles squandered an enormous public relations and security effort for the ceremony, a stinging embarrassment for the US-led occupation authority and its hand-picked governing council.

Earlier, Bremer had appeared on morning television shows in the United States, touting the constitution on CNN as “an extraordinary document, which is really unprecedented in Iraq’s history”.

US and Iraqi officials had planned an elaborate ceremony in Baghdad for the signing, full of symbols of Iraqi unity, that was left a shambles.

A map of the country was emblazoned with the slogan: “We all participate in the new Iraq.” Twenty-five fountain pens, one for each member, were lined up on an antique desk belonging to King Feisal I, Iraq’s first monarch.

Children wearing traditional costumes representing Iraq’s main ethnic groups were brought in for the occasion. With the audience waiting for the signing to take place, the children went ahead on stage and sang a repertoire of patriotic songs.

At the same time, helicopters swarmed the skies around the convention centre, scouting for would-be attackers.

Hamed al-Bayati, a senior official in one of the Shi’ite parties that balked at signing, said the Shiite objections focused on two clauses in the document: one that effectively gives the Kurds a veto over a permanent constitution due to be put to a referendum next year and another that sets the shape of the presidency in a future government.

By the end of the evening, the dispute seemed to have become broader. Entifadh Qanbar, a spokesman for the Iraqi National Congress, one of the parties that balked at signing, said members had to deal with the issue of how ”an unelected body can bind an elected body in the future”.

He did not elaborate.

Qanbar said the parties would have to consult their leadership – and probably with al-Sistani as well.

The council would meet again on Monday, he said, adding that he hoped a signing would take place then.

Mahmoud Othman, an independent Kurd on the council, denounced the Shi’ites for “putting obstacles in front of the declaration”.

The interim constitution, which will remain in effect until a permanent charter is drafted next year, is a crucial part of the US plan for handing over power to the Iraqis on June 30.

The administration of US president George Bush is eager to carry out the transfer well before November US presidential elections.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Adam Ereli put a brave face on the failed signing ceremony.

“I think what we’re seeing is democracy at work. This is an important document, an important document for the future of Iraq, a document that is being written and will have to be embraced by Iraqis,” Ereli said.

“They have a number of issues that are fundamental to their future to work out. It’s a complicated process. They’re doing it in a peaceful and consensual and democratic way.

“And we’re supporting that effort. We believe they’ll be able to work through these issues and democracy in Iraq will move forward.”

Yesterday’s planned signing was already six days past the date it was supposed to occur under the US timetable. The governing council was unable to overcome sharp divisions by the February 28 deadline, and finally agreed on a draft on Monday.

Then on Tuesday, suicide bombers struck Shi’ite pilgrims in Baghdad and Karbala, killing at least 181. The signing was put off for a three-day mourning period.

Meanwhile, earlier yesterday, militants fired mortar rounds at Baghdad International Airport, the US military said. A pair of bombs also exploded on capital roads frequently used by US troops, but no injuries were reported.

A roadside bomb went off near a US convoy near the western town of Haditha, wounding two soldiers.