Iraqis to sign constitution Monday despite Shiite concerns

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, March 08, 2004

Iraqis to sign constitution Monday despite Shiite concerns

Iraq's Governing Council will sign an interim constitution on Monday with no change of wording, despite the reservations of the country's Shiite Muslim majority.

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Iraq's Governing Council will sign an interim constitution on Monday with no change of wording, despite the reservations of the country's Shiite Muslim majority.

The signing of the constitution has been repeatedly delayed because of disputes between Iraq's ethnic groups over the document,which is the foundation for the planned handover of sovereignty to an Iraqi government on June 30,

Iraq's most respected Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who has been pressing for more political power for the Shiite, had objected to some controversial clauses, particularly one that gives Kurds a veto over the permanent charter to be drawn up after elections next year.

After meeting Sistani and other senior clerics over the weekend in Najaf, delegates of Shiite on the Council said they were given the go-ahead to sign the document in spite of grave concerns.

"There are certain articles that the religious circles have reservations about (but) it seems that it will be that way, with no change, but with reservations from those circles as well as from the Kurds," said Adnan al-Asadi of the Shiite Dawa party.

Kurds, who have ruled three autonomous provinces in northern Iraq, have already said they will sign the constitution if the veto clause is not included.

The Council had missed a February 28 deadline to sign the constitution. A signing ceremony planned for last Wednesday was again postponed after Tuesday's bomb attacks on Shiites in Baghdadand Kerbala killed 181 people.

A signing ceremony last Friday ended inconclusively as five Shiite members of the Council refused to sign at the last minute for Sistani's objections.

Sistani, a 73-year-old Iranian-born religious scholar, has previously expressed objections to the US timetable for handing back power, forcing the Americans to bring forward planned elections, and objected to the de facto veto.

Iraq's US governor Paul Bremer said in interviews on US television he was confident it would be signed on Monday. "We've noted the statement by the current president of the Governing Council that they do intend to sign it tomorrow."

The Council will meet on Monday at 10 a.m. (0700 GMT) to set a time to sign the constitution later in the day.

US troops and Iraqi security forces in Baghdad are on high alert against any attempt by guerrillas to disrupt the signing of the document.

On Sunday evening, 10 rockets were fired at the headquarters compound of the US-led coalition authority, close to where the constitution is to be signed. The U S Army said there were no serious injuries.

Source: Xinhua

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