Iraq constitution process faces struggle

[Barrett808]

BAGHDAD, Iraq - An Iraqi committee struggling to come up with a method for choosing a constitutional convention will offer several options - including elections, which one council member said Tuesday could take as long as 18 months to prepare.

That could drag out the process well beyond the six months that Secretary of State Colin Powell suggested last week would be sufficient to complete a new constitution, a critical step in handing over authority to the Iraqis as demanded by many major powers and Iraqis themselves.

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

Coupled with growing calls for the U.S.-led coalition to quickly cede more power to the 25-member Iraqi Governing Council, the constitution issue is likely to widen differences between the U.S.-run Coalition Provisional Authority and the council itself.

A 25-member preparatory committee has been wrestling for weeks over how to select delegates to a constitutional commission, and a report is due soon. However, several key Iraqi figures have said a six-month timetable is too short given the enormous stakes in preparing a document acceptable to all the country's religious, cultural and ethnic groups.

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