Mideast News Digest
Iraqi Constitution Signing Boycotted by Shi'ites
The March 5 signing of the Iraqi Interim Constitution was delayed when five Shi'ite members of the Iraqi Governing Council, including Pentagon darling Ahmad Chalabi, boycotted the ceremony. The signing, originally scheduled for March 3, had already been postponed after the terrorist bombings of March 2.
Over the weekend, the Shi'ite members will be meeting with the highest religious Shi'a leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, to decide on their next move.
A statement distributed March 6 by the IGC said the members would reconvene Monday, March 8, "to finalize" outstanding issues "and sign" the interim charter. Occupation viceroy Paul Bremer was involved in private negotiations with council members in an attempt to resolve the Shi'ite objections, but seven hours after the scheduled ceremony, a coalition spokesman said no deal was reached Friday. And no date has been given for the signing to take place.
The members of the 24-person IGCa body appointed by the Occupationwho refused to sign were all Shi'ites: Ahmad Chalabi of the Iraqi National Congress, Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), Ibrahim al-Jaafari of the Dawa party, independent Shi'ite Mouwafak al-Rubaie, and the current IGC president, Shi'ite cleric Muhammad Bahr al-Ulloom.
This was no small embarrassment to Bremer, who had appeared on March 5 on CNN's "American Morning," touting the constitution as "an extraordinary document, which is really unprecedented in Iraq's history." Officials had planned an elaborate ceremony for the signing, full of symbols of Iraqi unity, including a map of the country with the slogan, "We all participate in the new Iraq." News wires reported: "Twenty-five fountain pens, one for each member, were lined up on an antique desk belonging to King Feisal I, Iraq's first monarch." Why the gesture to the British puppet king? one might ask.
In addition to the pens, children wearing traditional costumes representing Iraq's main ethnic groups, had been deployed. Although no ceremony took place, the kids went ahead on stage and sang a repertoire of patriotic songs.
The Shi'ites object to two clauses in the document: one gives the Kurds a veto over a permanent constitution, through a referendum; and another reportedly regarding the presidency in a future government, said a spokesman for one of the Shiite parties that refused to sign.
The clause about the Kurds says that even if a majority of Iraqis support the permanent constitution, the referendum would fail if two-thirds of the voters in three provinces reject iti.e., the three provinces in the north, controlled by the Kurds.
But there was more at stake: al-Sistani has rejected any governing body that is not elected. Entifadh Qanbar, a spokesman for Chalabi's INC which also refused to sign, said members had to deal with the issue of how "an unelected body can bind an elected body in the future."
How Bremer, or anyone else, can reconcile the positions of the Kurds and the Shi'ites is the big question. What the second postponement underlines is that al-Sistani, not Bremer, is the one who rules in Iraq.
Attempt To Trigger Civil War Fails in Iraq
Someone certainly wants civil war in Iraq. The atrocities committed against Shi'ite worshippers on March 2, at holy sites in Baghdad and Karbala, could have no other motivation than to pit Shi'ites against Sunnis. It was only the firm authority of the highest religious Shi'a leadership, Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistaniechoed by his Sunni counterpartswhich prevented a spiral of revenge. See Muriel Mirak-Weissbach report in EIW's InDepth.
Ashrawi in Washington: Palestinian Situation 'Extremely Critical'
On Feb. 12, Palestinian legislator Dr. Hanan Ashrawi made a return appearance in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the Council for the National Interest, Ashrawi reported that the already bad situation in the Palestinian Territories has only worsened since her previous Washington report, which was just after George W. Bush took office in 2001. Ashrawi warned that conditions are "extremely critical"; that continuation of the status quo is "untenable." See this week's InDepth for the full report.
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