"How can an unelected appointed body under occupation legislate for an elected body in an independent country," Rubaie (AFP)

"His reservation is this is not a complete constitution. It is not a perfect one.... That is completely different from rejection. That is different from working to mobilize the masses to bring it down," Rubaie told AFP.

In fact, the weekend visit by Shiite council members to Najaf to confer with Sistani after his reservations caused them to pull out of the original Friday signing ceremony secured the senior scholar's promise not to stir up troubles.

"Our visit to Najaf and our meeting with Sayeed Sistani got us the guarantee that the masses will not protest," said Adnan Assadi, a representative of the Dawa party.

"If the law had been signed Friday, without these guarantees, the Iraqi Shiites would have rose up" against the interim constitution, he said.

"We had to choose between stopping the political process or continuing it and trying to correct it later," Abdel Aziz Al-Hakim, the head of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), told reporters Tuesday.

According to Al-Jazeera Satellite Channel, al-Hakim said that he was absent from the signing ceremony Monday, due to "reservations and different points of views" concerning some articles of the document.

Rubaie, considered close to Sistani, said the influential scholar, who towers over Iraq's politicians in popularity, found the same flaws in the document as most council members.

"I believe he is right," Rubaie said.

‘Major Objections’

The major objections revolve mainly around two articles in the interim constitution. One that entitles the U.S.-installed Governing Council – a body appointed by an occupation authority – to enforce laws or sign agreements deemed binding to any future elected government.

The second article gives any three provinces the right to block any future laws or regulations, even if such were adopted by the majority of the Iraqi people. The clause apparently applies to the three Kurdish governorates in the north.

But Rubaie insisted Sistani's objections dovetailed with those of the Shiite members of the Governing Council.

The Shiite council members even read their own statement after the signing ceremony Monday taking issue with the same points, but said they put aside their reservations in the name of national unity.

"How can an unelected appointed body under occupation legislate for an elected body in an independent country with sovereignty," Rubaie asked.

The 62-article interim constitution enshrines a bill of rights and sets out the guidelines for a 275-seat national assembly, with a one-person presidency, two deputies and a prime minister, to be elected by January.

Sistani also disagreed with the transitional law's clause 61 C which provides for the rejection of a permanent constitution if it is voted down in a referendum by a two-thirds majority in three provinces, Rubaie said.

But Rubaie claimed Sistani's opposition to the clause was not aimed at the country's Kurds in the north.

Insiders to the negotiations claim clause C would give the Kurds, long oppressed by Iraq's Arab majority, a de facto veto over a permanent constitution thanks to their control of three northern provinces, said AFP.

"It is not something against the Kurds or the Sunnis," Rubaie said.

"It sets obstacles in the way of reaching a permanent constitution for the country," Sistani

"It is a technical or political issue. We can easily go into a vicious circle of two-thirds of three governorates rejecting the constitution ... If we enter the vicious circle ... it can go on and on."

For their part, the Kurds had grasped the message.

Council member Mahmud Othman told AFP late Monday that Clause 61 C could be put up for debate once a national assembly was elected by the end of 2005.

Welcome  

On the other hand, some world countries were quick to declare their satisfaction with the signing of the Iraqi interim code.

"Any step decided by the Iraqi people and their authorities that helps them recover their responsibilities and authority quickly and contribute to rebuilding Iraq's national institutions is a step forward," Jordanian government spokeswoman Asma Khodr told AFP.

In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia also welcomed the move, the official SPA news agency reported.

"The council of ministers expresses its satisfaction with the agreement on Iraq's interim constitution and its signature," by the Governing Council, said a statement released after the weekly cabinet meeting.

In Tehran, Iraq's neighbor Iran – itself another part of U.S. President George Bush's famous axis of evil - gave its blessing to the move, praising the document as a key step towards ending the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

"The signing of the Iraqi interim constitution is an effective step in the transfer of power to the Iraqi people, and Iran welcomes this favorably," foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said in a statement carried by the state news agency IRNA.

Kuwait, Britain, Russia, France and Lebanon also voiced their happiness with the Iraqi move.