World

Iraqis Set New Constitution

March 1, 2004 / 1:00 PM EST / CBS/AP

Iraqi politicians agreed early Monday on an interim constitution with a wide ranging bill of rights and a single chief executive, bridging a gulf between members over the role of Islam in the future government, coalition and Iraqi officials said.

The new constitution, a key step in the U.S. plan to turn over power on June 30, will be signed by top American administrator L. Paul Bremer on Wednesday, after the Shiite Muslim religious holiday of Ashoura ends, a coalition official said on condition of anonymity. The charter will remain in effect until a permanent constitution is drafted and ratified next year.

Elsewhere, a large explosion was heard Monday in central Baghdad and appeared to have come from the vicinity of the headquarters of the U.S. occupation authority.

Shortly after the blast, a Black Hawk helicopter circled over the green zone, the U.S. compound that includes Saddam Hussein's former Republican Palace and serves as headquarters of the U.S.-led coalition.

The U.S. command had no information about the explosion.

In other developments:

Britain's Tony Blair is under pressure to publish the legal advice he received before going to war, after a report that British military commanders were hesitant to order their troops into battle because the conflict's legality was doubtful.

A lawyer for an Egyptian accused of trying to kill U.S. soldiers at a military camp in Kuwait during the height of the war in Iraq last year, said there was no proof to convict the defendant and that his client does not belong to any terrorist organizations. Lutfi Barbari, a 31-year-old electrician, is accused of driving a pickup truck into a group of U.S. soldiers standing outside a store at Camp Udairi on March 30, injuring 15 of them.

With only weeks before thousands of war-weary American soldiers return home, the U.S. military is reminding them to stay focused on Iraq's lingering threats while preparing them for reintegration with their families and communities.

An Australian inquiry found the government's case for war failed to make clear there were doubts about the size of Saddam's alleged arsenal of weapons of mass destruction, but was "more moderate" than coalition partners Britain and the United States in its claims.

The coalition official said the interim constitution strikes a balance between the role of Islam and the bill of individual rights and democratic principles, by calling Islam a source, but not a primary source, for the implementation of civil law.

The document does not resolve how power will be transferred from the U.S.-led occupiers to an Iraqi government by July.

But the charter stipulates that elections for a Transitional National Assembly, which will be charged with drafting and voting on a permanent constitution for Iraq, will be held by the end of the year, if possible. If not, those elections would be held in 2005.

Rules for those elections will be written by the interim Iraqi government that takes power July 1.

An Iraqi official said the politicians agreed on compromises on the role of Islam but put off details on some aspects of Kurdish autonomy.

There was "full agreement ... on each article," said Entifadh Qanbar, a spokesman for Shiite Muslim council member Ahmad Chalabi.

The members, however, were unable to agree on the terms and size of the Kurdish self-rule region in the north. Kurdish leaders had demanded the right to keep their peshmerga militia as a distinct armed force and to control oil and other resources in their region. They also sought to add districts to the autonomous area.

Othman said the Kurdish issues weren't abandoned, but set aside, for now.

"Some points simply could not be done ... but (our attitude is) what you can't have now, you will have later. That's why we didn't insist that it be now," he said.

Shiites, who dominate southern Iraq, insisted that if the Kurds had the right to self-rule in their northern strongholds, Shiites should enjoy the same privilege in areas of the south where they predominate.

The document was cobbled together in the early morning after two days of talks by members of the Governing Council and describes the future Iraq as a federalist state along the lines of Canada, Brazil and India, with considerable authority handed to individual regions.

The compromise also set a goal, not a quota, to have at least 25 percent of the national assembly made up of women.

With approval of the interim constitution, the last remaining step before the June 30 power transfer is to decide how to constitute a new government. The American blueprint called for choosing a legislature through regional caucuses, but the plan fell apart after Shiite clerics demanded the lawmakers be chosen in a national election.

The leading cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, agreed to accept an unelected government to take power June 30 after the United Nations determined that an early vote was impossible. But Iraqi and U.S. officials have not agreed on a new formula and may require U.N. assistance to come up with one.

The deal came two days after a deadline set by the Americans and agreed to by the Governing Council in November. When it passed with the council still deeply divided, Bremer helped organize marathon talks.

Besides a comprehensive bill of rights, including protections for free speech, religious expression, assembly and due process, it also spells out the executive branch.

Under the terms of the document, Iraq will have a president with two deputies, along with a separate prime minister and a cabinet.

Although the charter is temporary, council members and their U.S. patrons expect it to serve as the basis for the permanent constitution.

The United States, which plans to open its largest embassy in the world on July 1 in Baghdad, will still exert considerable diplomatic influence on the fledgling Iraqi government. More than 100,000 U.S. troops will remain in Iraq after power is handed over.