Iraqi politicians agreed on the draft of an interim constitution early Monday, reaching a compromise on the role of Islam and putting off the details of Kurdish autonomy, an Iraqi official said. The charter will likely be signed Wednesday, according to The AP.
Members of the Iraqi Governing Council, with U.S. officials mediating, ended a second late night of talks at 4:20 a.m. with "full agreement ... on each article," said Entifadh Qanbar, spokesman for Shiite Muslim council member Ahmad Chalabi.
The interim charter, officially the Transitional Administrative Law, will remain in effect until a permanent constitution is drafted and ratified next year. It says that the rights of all Iraqi citizens will be respected and sets aside for women 25 percent of the seats in the provisional legislature, Qanbar added.
According to Qanbar, the interim constitution charter will recognize Islam as a major source of legislation and bar any laws which violate the tenets of the Muslim faith.
The interim charter affirmed the principle of federalism but left details of how this would be implemented.
On his part, Secretary of State Colin Powell Monday welcomed the approval and stated he expected the U.S. administrator in Iraq to approve it.
On the CBS "Early Show," the US top diplomat stated Paul Bremer would likely sign off on the constitution. "I expect he will," Powell said. "This is a major achievement, only a day late, which I think is terrific. And I haven't read all of the language that was agreed to over the weekend but I am fairly confident that Ambassador Bremer will be able to approve it." (Albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
