Dragging out the process far beyond Washington’s earlier six-month deadline, the spokesman of Ahmed Chalabi’s Iraqi National Congress (INC) said the drafting of the new Iraqi constitution would rather take a year.

"I don't think six months will be sufficient. It will probably take a year," said Entfadh Qanbar at a press conference, commenting on the timeframe suggested by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.

The constitution is a critical step in handing over authority to the Iraqis as demanded by many world powers and Iraqis themselves, and in paving the way for an end to the U.S.-British occupation for the oil-rich country.

Powell said the United States won't relinquish power until a democratically elected Iraqi government is in place.

But Washington affirmed that the deadline for preparing the constitution is just a target and not binding.

The INC said it was unrealistic to expect a new constitution within the next half-year.

Differences have also raised as to selecting members of the commission entrusted for forming the constitution.

Noor Alzin, a former appeals court judge once jailed by Saddam Hussein, said he preferred members to be selected from among legal experts, academics and politicians, rather than by popular election.

Electing delegates, he said, could take up to 18 months because a ballot could be held only after a census and preparation of voter registration lists.

Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein al-Sistani, a top leader from Iraq's majority Shiite Muslims, issued a religious decree in June saying the constitution should be written only by delegates elected by the people.

The Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, an influential Shiite group on the interim Governing Council, has thrown its support to electing delegates as a measure of the people's consent.

In Washington, Iraqi leaders have asked U.S. lawmakers for billions of dollars in reconstruction grants and not loans, as Washington battled increased resistance in Congress over funding for the war-torn country and prepared to unveil a U.N. resolution to garner world financial and military support.

In meetings with U.S. legislators, Iraqi leaders sought Tuesday billions of dollars in grants, saying loans would raise questions about U.S. motives in Iraq.

"We hope it will be a grant, not a loan, because Iraq is already burdened with very heavy loans," said Adnan Pachachi, a member of the U.S.-backed council.

Pachachi said switching from grants to loans would "reopen the debate" about whether the United States invaded Iraq to oust Saddam Hussein or gain control of Iraqi oil, the second-largest known reserves in the world.

Chalabi, the current rotating president of the council, said loans would been seen in a negative light in Iraq and around the Muslim world.

U.S. President George W. Bush has asked Congress for 87 billion dollars to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan and to continue his "war on terrorism."

But U.S. lawmakers have suggested that some of the money could be given in the form of loans to be repaid with revenue from Iraq’s oil production.

Senator Byron Dorgan proposed legislation requiring Iraqi oil be used as collateral for international reconstruction loans.

"American taxpayers should not be required to pay for rebuilding Iraq's infrastructure, especially when the American 'shock and awe' (bombing campaign) deliberately avoided damaging Iraq's infrastructure," said the North Dakota Democrat.

Meanwhile, Representative Henry Waxman sent a letter Tuesday to White House Budget Director Joshua Bolten expressing concern about overspending and lack of transparency in the Iraq reconstruction operations, saying the cost would be "90 percent less" if local, rather than foreign companies do the work.

With mounting resistance at home over the cost of policing and rebuilding Iraq, the Bush administration is eager to share this burden with other world powers, most notably France and Germany, who have demanded a new U.N. resolution on Iraq’s return to self-rule before they provide any help.