Iraqis Still Undecided on Interim Gov't

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi leaders must still decide on the form of a new government to take power June 30 despite approval of an interim constitution at the end of a protracted and sometimes stormy debate, officials said Monday.

Members of the Iraqi Governing Council agreed to the interim constitution before dawn Monday - two days after the deadline. It establishes a bill of rights and cements compromises on the structure of a future presidency and the role of Islam.

The document calls for elections by Jan. 31, 2005 to create a legislature, with a goal of having women in at least a quarter of the seats. But it does not say what kind of government will run the country from June 30, when the U.S.-led coalition hands over power, until Jan. 31.

Council member Adnan Pachachi said the form of the new administration will be included in an annex to the interim constitution once agreement is reached.

The charter also leaves open the question of Kurdish autonomy after negotiators were unable to agree on that issue.

The new constitution will be signed by top American administrator L. Paul Bremer and made public Wednesday after the Shiite Muslim religious holiday of Ashoura, a coalition official said on condition of anonymity. The charter will remain in effect until a permanent constitution is drafted and ratified next year.

With approval of the interim constitution, the last remaining step is to decide how to constitute a new government to take power from the U.S.-led occupation authority on June 30.

Council members and U.S. officials have been divided for weeks over a formula for putting together the government - and it appears likely the United Nations will have to intervene to help find a solution.

The American blueprint called for choosing a legislature through regional caucuses, but the plan fell apart after Shiite clerics called that method illegitimate and demanded a national election. A U.N. mission then judged that elections before June 30 are infeasible, leaving all sides looking for a new alternative.

The agreement on the constitution came on the third night of marathon talks - two days after the deadline agreed to by the council and U.S. officials. When the deal was finally struck at 4:30 a.m. Monday, delegates gave a standing ovation.

"It was a very emotional moment," said Salem Chalabi, a representative from the Iraqi National Congress, told The Associated Press. "We established a bill of rights like no other in the region. It was quite a remarkable thing" - even more so for being hammered out in the former Military Industry Ministry, a bulwark of Saddam Hussein's ousted regime.

"Compromises were made. Not everybody got what they wanted," he said. But "everybody was happy."

The charter has a 13-article bill of rights, including protections for free speech, religious expression, assembly and due process and spells out the shape of an executive branch.

Under the terms of the document, Iraq will have a president with two deputies who would choose a prime minister and cabinet. Chalabi said decisions by the presidents and deputies would have to be unanimous.