US claims diplomatic victory as Iraq constitution signed

11.45am

WASHINGTON - The United States has claimed a diplomatic victory in Iraq's tortuous march toward sovereignty after the Iraqi Governing Council signed an interim constitution despite persistent reservations from the country's leading Shi'ite Muslim cleric.

President Bush, who was visiting his native Texas for a campaign fund-raiser, called the signing "a historic milestone" that established American-style freedoms of religion, speech and assembly for Iraq while moving the Muslim nation toward sovereignty and democratic elections.

"While difficult work remains to establish democracy in Iraq, today's signing is a critical step in that direction," Bush said in a statement issued by the White House.

The Republican president, who justified last year's US-led Iraq war by citing the threat from weapons of mass destruction that were never found, has described the goal of establishing democracy in Iraq as part of a larger initiative to bring democratic reforms to the Middle East region.

Today's signing set the stage for a broad new phase of political discourse aimed at creating an Iraqi interim government to accept sovereignty from the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority on June 30. The interim government would oversee Iraq for the seven months leading up to elections.

A senior official of the US-led coalition said he hoped the United Nations, which sent an electoral team to Baghdad last month, would return to Iraq to join in the discussions.

"We believe the United Nations can play a useful role in this next phase in helping us, the governing council and a broad group of the Iraqi population decide what is the best way (to create an interim government)", said the coalition official, who asked not to be identified.

"We've already begun to talk to the governing council and we're hoping to start talking to other Iraqis about this, really right this week."

SHI'ITE OBJECTIONS REMAIN

The signing ceremony in Baghdad followed a series of postponements wrought by political and religious differences between governing council members, as well as last week's wave of coordinated attacks on Shi'ite worshipers that killed 181 people.

The Council, which missed a February 28 deadline for agreeing on the interim constitution, cancelled a signing ceremony last Friday after leaders of the majority Shi'ites objected to a clause that effectively gives minority Kurds veto power over the permanent charter that will be drawn up next year after democratic elections.

Weekend talks helped pave the way for Shi'ite representatives to sign the constitution at a ceremony preceded by blasts from guerrilla mortars.

But Shi'ite objections remained. The powerful Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, whose influence forced the coalition authority to agree to early elections, warned the new document would make it harder for Iraq to agree on a permanent constitution.

US officials, however, did their best to play down Sistani's misgivings.

In a teleconference with reporters, the senior coalition official said he had not read Sistani's warning statement and suggested the cleric was among a large number of Iraqi leaders who had compromised on difficult issues.

"What stands on its own is the fact that these 25 Iraqis have managed somehow, through lots of compromising, and some courageous decisions, to come up with a document they all agree to," he said.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq