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BAGHDAD - Shiite leaders refused to sign an interim constitution after Iraq's top Shiite cleric rejected portions of the charter, in a last-minute dispute that wrecked a planned signing ceremony Friday and marred a landmark in the U.S. plans to hand over sovereignty to the Iraqis.
A spokesman for one of the Shiite parties said no signing would take place before Monday, giving time for members to consult with Shiite Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, who has forced two major revisions in U.S. plans to transfer power to the Iraqis.
The maneuver by five Shiite members of the Iraqi Governing Council broke the unity the body showed this week when it overcame deep differences to unanimously agree on a draft of the charter.
It also highlighted the power Sistani wields over the political process because of his considerable influence over Iraq's Shiite majority.
A statement distributed early today by the Governing Council said the members would reconvene Monday to finalize outstanding issues and sign the interim charter. However, it was unclear whether the final hurdles could be overcome by the statement's timetable.
Along with top U.S. administrator L. Paul Bremer, council members negotiated in private in an attempt to resolve the Shiite objections. But seven hours after the ceremony had been set to take place, a coalition spokesman said no deal was reached Friday and gave no date for the signing to take place.
The council's squabbles squandered an enormous public relations and security effort for the ceremony, a stinging embarrassment for the U.S.-led occupation authority and its hand-picked Governing Council.
Earlier, Bremer had appeared on morning television shows in the United States, touting the constitution on CNN's American Morning as "an extraordinary document, which is really unprecedented in Iraq's history."
U.S. and Iraqi officials had planned an elaborate ceremony for the signing, full of symbols of Iraqi unity, that was left a shambles. A map of the country was emblazoned with the slogan "We all participate in the new Iraq." Twenty-five fountain pens, one for each member, were lined up on an antique desk belonging to King Feisal I, Iraq's first monarch.
Children wearing traditional costumes representing Iraq's main ethnic groups were brought in for the occasion. With the audience waiting for the signing to take place, the children sang a repertoire of patriotic songs.
At the same time, helicopters swarmed the skies around the convention center, scouting for would-be attackers.
The attacks never materialized.
The Shiite objections focused on two clauses in the document: one that effectively gives the Kurds a veto over a permanent constitution due to be put to a referendum next year and another on the shape of the presidency in a future government, said Hamed al-Bayati, a senior official in one of the Shiite parties that balked at signing.
The interim constitution, which will remain in effect until a permanent charter is drafted next year, is a crucial part of the U.S. plan for handing over power to the Iraqis on June 30.
The Bush administration is eager to carry out the transfer well before the U.S. presidential elections in November.
CONSTITUTION ISSUESTwo issues were central to Friday's last-minute decision by Shiite members of Iraq's Governing Council to refuse to sign an interim constitution:
- KURDS: A Kurd-backed clause says a 2005 vote on a permanent constitution would fail if two-thirds of the population in any three of Iraq's 18 provinces reject it. That would give Kurds the power to block a constitutional effort to eliminate or reduce the powers of a Kurdish self-rule region in the north. Iraq's top Shiite cleric objects to this, saying a minority of the population should not be able to veto the charter.
- PRESIDENCY: The draft creates a single president with two deputies; together, the three pick a prime minister. The Shiites seek a five-person presidency that reflects their status as Iraq's majority. They want a presidency that rotates among three Shiites, a Kurd and a Sunni.