More critics of new Iraqi constitution emerge

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraq's interim constitution faces powerful critics: two influential ayatollahs, the leader of a Shiite party and other Iraqis who dismiss it as the work of the United States and its Iraqi allies.

The criticism again places post-Saddam Hussein Iraq at a crossroads -- whether to allow sectarian politics to prevail and put the nation's unity at risk, or close ranks and continue toward democratic rule.

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, the most influential cleric for Iraq's Shiite Muslim majority, initiated the latest political wrangling. His objections to the interim charter prompted his supporters on the 25-seat Governing Council to refuse to sign it as scheduled March 5.

Citing a pressing need to safeguard national unity and push forward the political process, they signed Monday, but made clear they have reservations about parts of the document and wish to change them.

Al-Sistani hardened his opposition to the document Monday. On Tuesday, another grand ayatollah, Mohammed Taqi al-Modaresi, warned of civil war or the dismemberment of Iraq because of the charter's adoption of a federal system of government. Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the largest Shiite political party, said the document encroached on the powers of a future parliament.

Many Iraqis appear divided on the constitution, which for the first time guarantees their freedom and human rights. Some have celebrated its adoption, some rejected it, and some said they didn't know its contents.

"I did not understand the interim constitution. Most people don't," said Amir Ali, a university official in Baghdad. "It was America who wrote the constitution. It was America who nominated those to write it."

In a fatwa, or religious edict, issued Monday, al-Sistani said the interim charter would only gain legitimacy if adopted by an elected body. He described the document as an "obstacle" to Iraq's permanent constitution, which will be drafted by a parliament elected by Jan. 31, 2005, and put to a referendum later in the year.

In an unusually blunt statement, al-Modaresi, who lives in the holy city of Karbala, said clauses pertaining to federalism in the charter were "a time bomb that will lead to a civil war in Iraq." Referring to the 14-year-old self-rule enjoyed by Kurds in three northern provinces, he said: "This federalism will end up breaking up Iraq and lead to a civil war."

Al-Hakim, a Governing Council member and leader of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, said Iraqi society was cohesive enough to prevent civil war, but added: "Our main problem lies with the imposition of restrictions set by an unelected body on an elected body.

"No one believes that this document reflects perfection or embodies the ambitions of everyone," he said.

Like fellow Shiite politicians, al-Hakim tried to allay fears that Shiites wanted to use their newfound powers to dominate Iraq after decades of oppression at the hands of the Sunni Arab minority. He and other Shiites on the council, he said, would try to reach a consensus on amending the clauses in question.

Conciliatory rhetoric by Shiite leaders does little to conceal the fierce competition between the nation's three main groups -- Kurds, Shiites and Sunni Arabs -- to gain leverage ahead of the June 30 transfer of power to Iraqis by the U.S.-led coalition. At stake is the Shiites' cherished dream of political power, the Kurds' desire to formalize self-rule in their areas, and the Sunni Arabs' struggle to stay politically relevant without Saddam's patronage.

There are two clauses in dispute, and both suggest sectarian concerns.

The first stipulates that if two-thirds of voters in any three of Iraq's 18 provinces reject a permanent constitution to be drafted by an elected parliament next year, then the document cannot be adopted, parliament will be dissolved, and a general election will be held. Suggested by the Kurds and supported by the coalition, the clause protects Kurds against any encroachment on their self-rule in a permanent constitution drafted by a parliament dominated by the Shiites.

Sunni Arabs also see it as a safety valve against Shiite domination.

Kurds and Sunni Arabs are believed to make up 30 percent to 40 percent of Iraq's 25 million people; Shiites are widely believed to make up 60 percent.

Shiite politicians say the clause gives 10 percent of Iraqis the power to block the will of the rest and could result in instability if one draft after another are rejected.

The other disputed clause prohibits any changes in the interim constitution without the approval of three-fourths of the elected parliament and the consensus of the proposed president and his two deputies. Shiites view it as an attempt by an unelected body -- the Governing Council -- to bind an elected assembly, which they are likely to dominate.

Songul Chabook, a Sunni and the only representative of Iraq's ethnic Turks on the Shiite-dominated Governing Council, fueled tensions Tuesday when she cast doubt on the widely held belief that Shiites were a majority in Iraq. She argued that an "honest and clean" census will find that Sunnis -- Arabs and Kurds -- now make up more than half the population.

"I hope that we will not have a Shiite majority when we have an elected parliament," she said in an interview. "Let us not repeat what we have in the Governing Council. I hope that Iraqis will elect deputies in the next parliament on merit so that its decisions will be respected."