Iraq constitution talks go on, head for referendum

BAGHDAD - Iraqi negotiators failed to agree a final draft of a constitution on Thursday after the government had insisted that they would and the parliament speaker said discussions could go on for some time yet.

However, if compromises could not be found to overcome the opposition of minority Sunni Arab and other groups, the text so far proposed by the Shi'ite- and Kurdish-led government would simply be put to the people at a mid-October referendum.

"Negotiations are still going on. Everybody was there," speaker Hajim al-Hassani told Reuters. "This is a good sign and we hope we will reach a result tomorrow night."

Asked at a news conference what would happen if there were no consensus after further negotiations, he said: "If we cannot reach an agreement, God forbid, the constitution will be put to the Iraqi people on October 15."

He made clear, however, that after an often confusing series of midnight deadlines over the past 10 days, he was not setting a particular time limit on those discussions. Nor was any parliamentary vote required to adopt the text put to the nation.

Some representatives of the once dominant Sunni Arab minority said they might challenge the legality of the process, urging a new election for an interim legislature to begin again the process of drafting a constitution from scratch.

But government and parliamentary officials indicated that they believed the requirements had been met of a US-sponsored interim constitution, under which parliament "shall write the draft of the permanent constitution" by mid-August.

DEADLINES

An initial August 15 deadline was extended for a week. Just minutes before it expired at midnight on Monday, Hassani declared he had received a draft, put forward by Shi'ite and Kurdish negotiators, despite objections from Sunnis and some Shi'ites who dislike the degree of regional autonomy it offered.

He proposed a further three days of talks to try to reach consensus. Thursday's developments appeared to extend that, if not indefinitely, at least for some considerable time.

With no real judicial structure in place, it seems unlikely there can be a legal challenge to the government's conclusion that the requirements of the interim constitution have been met.

US President George W. Bush insists that Iraqis stick to a timetable set down under US supervision last year, as part of an overall plan to reduce American troop numbers in Iraq.

A senior negotiator from one of the government parties said he expected talks to continue for several days at least.

Saleh al-Mutlak, a senior Sunni delegate said he saw signs of flexibility. Hassani said there had been discussion at length on the issues of federalism and deBaathification -- the removal from public life of former supporters of Saddam Hussein.

Earlier on Thursday, government spokesman Laith Kubba said there would be no modification of the draft beyond Thursday.

Sunnis, with scant representation in parliament following a boycott of January's election, have warned of civil war if the constitution goes through as it stands with provisions for a federal state that they fear could see Shi'ite and Kurdish regions hiving off oil resources in the north and south.

They are mobilising to secure a blocking two-thirds "No" vote in three of Iraq's 18 provinces.

"If this constitution continues to include federalism it should be put in the bin and done again," Hussein al-Falluji, a Sunni member of the drafting panel, told Reuters.

SHI'ITE CLASHES

Some Shi'ites, notably the young and influential cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, have joined Sunnis in condemning the charter and clashes overnight between his Mehdi Army militia and pro-government Shi'ite groups have added to tensions.

Kubba admitted a veto was a possibility. If the referendum fails, an election in December will not pick a parliament with full powers but another one-year interim assembly charged with starting negotiations on the constitution all over again.

The sooner a charter is adopted the sooner the "suffering" of Iraqis would end, he said, echoing US comments. But he added: "A delay is not a good thing. But it's not a disaster."

Eight people were killed and dozens wounded in Najaf, south of Baghdad late on Wednesday, hospital staff said.

Kubba described the fighting as a local dispute between Sadr's Mehdi Army and supporters of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), one of the main Shi'ite Islamist parties in the coalition government.

After some belligerent rhetoric, leaders on both sides made conciliatory statements aimed at ending the violence for now.

The discovery of the bodies of 36 unidentified shooting victims south of Baghdad added to pressure on the government to improve security. Police chief Brigadier-General Abdel Haneen Hamoud told Reuters the victims were men left in their underwear in a river bed, each with a single bullet wound to the head.

- REUTERS