BAGHDAD, August 16, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Iraq's parliament gave drafters of the new constitution an extra week to complete the new charter after weeks of intensive talks failed to resolve sticking points and meet the deadline on Monday, August 15.

"We weren't able despite all efforts to reach solutions that would satisfy everyone," parliament speaker Hajim Al-Hasani told a parliament session, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

In order to give the drafters a new deadline, Iraqi lawmakers had to amend an article in the Transitional Administrative Law (TAL).

"The national assembly should draft the permanent constitution within a period ending by August 22," Hasani said as he read the proposed amendment which the MPs approved by raising their hands.

Iraq's top leaders had battled for the past two weeks over a charter that aimed to set the country on a new political roadmap.

The TAL, an interim constitution drawn up under US occupation last year, called for the interim legislature to be dissolved and elections by December for a new constitution-drafting body if no draft permanent constitution was ready by August 15.

"Huge efforts were exerted, and principal issues have been settled, but this crucial project needs closer examination, and therefore, more time," said President Jalal Talabani, who on Saturday expected the new charter to be ready ahead of the Monday deadline.

Just an hour before parliament would have been forced to recognize failure to write a constitution by the deadline and face dissolution under the US-drafted TAL, negotiators went to the chamber to ask for 10 more days, according to Reuters.

Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari said the sticking points had been federalism and sharing out revenues.

An initial agreement to share the oil revenues has been agreed, but the mechanism to distribute it remains to be formulated.

Refusal by Sunni leaders to grant wide autonomy -- and control of oil income -- to the Shiites in the south appeared to break any accord, according to Reuters.

Kurdish autonomy, secured de facto after the 1991 Gulf War, has been less of an issue but other groups are wary of demands from some Kurds to push for a possibility of outright secession.

Shiites’ call for Islam to have a bigger role in Iraqi law has also been a source of friction.

Officials close the negotiations told Reuters that panelists suggested that, if there is no consensus deal, the Shiites and Kurds in parliament could use their overwhelming majority to bypass Sunni objections.

Sunni leaders say they would resist that fiercely.

Opposition from the Sunnis could still scupper the new constitution as the interim rules stipulate the charter can be rejected by a two-thirds majority in any three provinces. Al-Anbar, Tamim and Salaheddin are predominately Sunni.

"It was no disappointment because we have done a lot," said Talabani. (Reuters)

If a constitution is agreed, it will go to a referendum by October 15 and a full-term parliament would be elected by December.

Some panelists warned of a looming political crisis if they failed once again to reach a compromise.

"This is a one-time extension... if Iraq misses the next deadline, we have to dissolve the national assembly, the government will collapse and fresh elections will have to be held," Kurdish panelist Munther Al-Fadhal told AFP.

Fadhal said the present interim law stipulates that it can be amended only once to seek an extension for drafting the charter.

Exhausted negotiators were taking stock of Monday's dramatic events and said there would be no talks on Tuesday.

"Nothing will happen today," Kurdish panelist Mahmud Othman said.

"Everyone is tired after the last week's hectic activities. It is like a holiday today," he told AFP, adding that a scheduled assembly meeting Tuesday was delayed.

President Talabani dismissed talk of disappointment in Washington, where President George W. Bush was said to have exercised pressures on Iraqi leaders to draft the code on time.

"We are grateful to the Bush administration," said Talabani. "It was no disappointment because we have done a lot."

Bush, who repeatedly said the Iraqis should finish the new charter on time, tried to play down the delay.

"Their efforts are a tribute to democracy and an example that difficult problems can be solved peacefully through debate, negotiation, and compromise," he said in a statement.

His Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice predicted Iraqis would finalize the draft by the new deadline.

"We are witnessing democracy at work in Iraq," she told reporters. "They have achieved a lot and they have generated considerable momentum toward the completion of their constitution."

The delay, however, is seen by analysts as a blow to efforts by US diplomats who have been shuttling between the sides in the hope that a deal could help stabilize the war-torn country.

US Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad is said to have played a key role in the negotiations.

It was reported that he presented a written, US-backed approach to unresolved questions, particularly the role of Islam in determining law and federalism.

"There is the impression that the United States is driving this, and that is not a good thing," said Telhami.

"By now I don't think that progress on the constitution will have one iota of impact, and even if they come up with a compromise agreement, implementing it is another story," he said.