Iraq's Governing Council has decided to put off until Wednesday the signing of an interim constitution after lawmakers missed a February 28 deadline amid divisions over federalism and the role of Islam.  

A senior official with the US-led coalition said Sunday the signing of the document, set to guide Iraq over the next year, was being delayed until after the celebration of an important Islamic festival.

"I would think the document could be finished today if they get down to it and work hard," the official said.

"But there will be no signing ceremony before the end of Ashura, which probably means Wednesday," he said, referring to the ceremony which marks the martyrdom 1,300 years ago of Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Mohammad.

Officials said no announcement was planned Sunday as the talks were still going on.

The US-appointed Council failed to meet a midnight Saturday deadline for drawing up the provisional document, which is to give a framework for an interim government set to take power on June 30 and touch on contested issues such as the role of Islam, Kurdish autonomy demands and women in government.

It is also expected to enshrine an Iraqi bill of rights, civilian control of the Iraqi army and freedom of religion.

The 25-member body met late into the night but failed to reach a consensus. Coalition officials said the negotiations were spirited and at times heated, but always respectful.

Finalizing the document will mark a crucial step in the process of US authorities handing sovereignty back to an Iraqi government by the June 30 deadline agreed last November.

Hard day's night

The Council, which brings together leaders from Iraq's various ethnic and religious groups, including Shi'ites, Sunnis, Kurds and Turkmen, reconvened Sunday afternoon and was set to meet late into the evening again.

During discussions Friday, several Shi'ite members of the Council walked out, angered by the cancellation of a previous ruling that would have made divorce and inheritance subject to the rulings of religious law.

Other sticking points have included defining the role of women in a future Iraqi government, with some Council members pushing for the constitution to set out a specific quota for the number of female representatives or parliamentarians.

There has also been furious debate over federalism, with Kurds, who have effectively had self-rule in three northern provinces of Iraq since the 1991 Gulf War, pushing to enshrine and possibly expand that autonomy in the document.

Islam is expected to be named as the official religion when the document, which runs to about 25 pages and will have between 50 and 60 articles, is finalized, but it is still unclear to what extent Iraq's judiciary would draw on the religion.

The coalition official said US administrator Paul Bremer, who has a veto over the document, was unlikely to use it, with Governing Council members determined to hammer out an agreement acceptable to all.

(China Daily March 1, 2004)