HOPES that political momentum would help defeat the Iraqi insurgency suffered a potential setback yesterday when the committee writing the new constitution decided to ask parliament for a 30-day extension to finish the draft. The decision to ask for an extension was taken after a number of members said it was clear that major issues stood in the way of an agreement on the language of the charter. Among the key disputes are federalism, dual nationality and the role of Islam. The committee chairman Humam Hammoudi's recommendation of a 30-day extension was accepted, one of the members, Bahaa al-Araji, said. He explained that the Kurdish delegates had wanted a six-month delay, but the Shiites and Sunni Arabs decided to ask for an extra 30 days. The formal request for a delay will be submitted to parliament today, according to committee members. Following the decision, Jalal Talabani, Iraq's president, held a meeting with , Zalmay Khalilad, the United States ambassador. Mr Talabani later insisted that the 15 August deadline for parliamentary approval of the constitution would be met, and he began urgent consultations with parliamentary leaders in an attempt to head off any delay. UPDATE: A few details about the differences:
Kurdish legislator Hussein Mohammed Taha, detailing the disputed issues, said Kurds and Shiites agree that Iraq should become a federal state while Sunni Arabs object, fearing it could lead to the division of the country.
"There is a group that wants Iraq to be called `The Iraqi Islamic Federal Republic,' while the other wants it called the `Iraqi Federal Republic' and another group rejects both names," Taha said.
Another problem is whether the official language of Iraq should be Arabic alone or Arabic and Kurdish, he added.
There are even differences over whether Iraq should be formally declared part of the Arab and Islamic nation, or whether the document should state that the Iraqi people are parts of those nations, he said.
A serious point of disagreement appears to be the role of Islam in the state. Shiites, who make up about 60 percent of Iraq's estimated 27 million people, want Islam to be the main source of legislation, while the Kurds want it to be one of the sources — as it is in the interim constitution approved before the Americans restored Iraqi sovereignty in June 2004.
"The Americans and the British are demanding that the constitution be done on time and we are asking the Americans and British to put pressure on the Kurds," said Jawad al-Maliki, a member of Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari's Dawa party.
But Kurdish committee member Mahmoud Othman criticized U.S. officials for pressuring the Kurds and other framers to meet the deadline.
"If they want to interfere they should do it openly inside the committee. The American ambassador should ... come speak during our meetings. He should not speak to members on the side," Othman said. "It is a shame for a superpower to behave like this."