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08-15-2005, 07:30 PM
Iraqi Sets New Aug. 22 Deadline to Draft Constitution (Update1)
Aug. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Iraq's parliament set a new deadline of Aug. 22 for drafting the country's constitution to give negotiators one week beyond today's U.S.-imposed deadline to work out their differences.
``Although all sides are disappointed that we didn't meet the deadline that we had set, it's not the end of the world,'' Qubad Talabani, who represents the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan in Washington and is the son of Iraqi president Jalal Talabani, said in a telephone interview. ``We are going to use this week to try to reach a compromise on the issues that are outstanding.''
Iraq's majority Shiite, minority Sunni Muslim and Kurdish drafters of the charter had reached a tentative agreement on issues ranging from oil revenues to the country's name, while postponing decisions on the most difficult issues, including the role of the Islamic religion, women's rights and self- determination for different regions inside Iraq, such as the Kurdish northern provinces, the Associated Press reported.
``This is more writing on the wall that the Sunnis are just going to be pushed off to the side and further marginalized,'' Charles Pena, an analyst at the Cato Institute, said in a telephone interview. ``The Sunnis understand that everything is moving toward an Iraq in which the Shia have all the power and they are just marginalized and the Kurds are just going to go off on their own.''
Iraq's Kurdish minority has controlled the oil-rich northern provinces of Sulaymaniyah, Arbil and Dohuk, since the 1991 Gulf War. The region, known as Kurdistan, has been ruled since 1992 by elected officials.
The degree to which Islamic law will govern women's rights has been another divisive issue, and the Iraqi Women's League, one of the oldest women's groups in Iraq, has said it won't support a democratic state that is based on religion.
``We weren't able despite all efforts to reach solutions that would satisfy everyone,'' parliament speaker Hajim al-Hasani told a special session of the legislative body, Agence France-Presse reported.
U.S. President George W. Bush said Aug. 11 the drafting of the constitution is a ``critical step'' for Iraq that is one of the milestones for establishment of a democratic government there, one of the key U.S. goals.
The administration has ``made it clear that we believe that constitution can be and should be agreed upon by August 15th,'' Bush said.
Aug. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Iraq's parliament set a new deadline of Aug. 22 for drafting the country's constitution to give negotiators one week beyond today's U.S.-imposed deadline to work out their differences.
``Although all sides are disappointed that we didn't meet the deadline that we had set, it's not the end of the world,'' Qubad Talabani, who represents the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan in Washington and is the son of Iraqi president Jalal Talabani, said in a telephone interview. ``We are going to use this week to try to reach a compromise on the issues that are outstanding.''
Iraq's majority Shiite, minority Sunni Muslim and Kurdish drafters of the charter had reached a tentative agreement on issues ranging from oil revenues to the country's name, while postponing decisions on the most difficult issues, including the role of the Islamic religion, women's rights and self- determination for different regions inside Iraq, such as the Kurdish northern provinces, the Associated Press reported.
``This is more writing on the wall that the Sunnis are just going to be pushed off to the side and further marginalized,'' Charles Pena, an analyst at the Cato Institute, said in a telephone interview. ``The Sunnis understand that everything is moving toward an Iraq in which the Shia have all the power and they are just marginalized and the Kurds are just going to go off on their own.''
Iraq's Kurdish minority has controlled the oil-rich northern provinces of Sulaymaniyah, Arbil and Dohuk, since the 1991 Gulf War. The region, known as Kurdistan, has been ruled since 1992 by elected officials.
The degree to which Islamic law will govern women's rights has been another divisive issue, and the Iraqi Women's League, one of the oldest women's groups in Iraq, has said it won't support a democratic state that is based on religion.
``We weren't able despite all efforts to reach solutions that would satisfy everyone,'' parliament speaker Hajim al-Hasani told a special session of the legislative body, Agence France-Presse reported.
U.S. President George W. Bush said Aug. 11 the drafting of the constitution is a ``critical step'' for Iraq that is one of the milestones for establishment of a democratic government there, one of the key U.S. goals.
The administration has ``made it clear that we believe that constitution can be and should be agreed upon by August 15th,'' Bush said.