US Secretary of State Colin Powell, responding to demands from France and others for a rapid timetable for self-rule in Iraq, said yesterday that the US would set a deadline of six months for Iraqi leaders working under the US-led occupation to produce a new Constitution for their country.
The Constitution, which would spell out whether Iraq should be governed by a presidential or parliamentary system, would clear the way for elections and the installation of a new leadership next year, Powell said. Not until then, he added, would the US transfer authority from the US-led occupation to Iraq itself.
"We would like to put a deadline on them," he said in an interview, referring to the Iraqi task of writing a Constitution. "They've got six months. It'll be a difficult deadline to meet, but we've got to get them going."
Military officers also said they faced a very short deadline -- days rather than weeks -- before they had to decide whether to call up more National Guard and Reserve troops.
Powell's establishment of a deadline, and his tone of urgency in general, came as the US has tried to satisfy France and other skeptical nations who say that a quick transfer of power to Iraqis must be part of any Security Council resolution expanding UN authority in Iraq.
The US has resisted a transfer within a month or months as suggested by France, arguing that granting authority to an unelected Iraqi government would undercut its legitimacy in the eyes of the world. Yesterday, Powell went further, saying that remnants of former president Saddam Hussein's government and his Baath Party would lead a rebellion against such a government.
"These are ex-Baathists," Powell said of those carrying out attacks. "They would go after an illegitimate government that does not enjoy the will of the people, just as easily as they would go after us."
The Iraqi Governing Council, composed of leading Iraqi politicians, was appointed, not elected.
The idea of a fixed time schedule is unlikely to be incorporated into the resolution, which is being negotiated, Powell said. But he said the general principle of events like the writing of a Constitution, elections and an installation of new leadership might well be in the resolution.
The secretary's comments came on another day of intensive negotiations to try to get support on the UN Security Council for the resolution, which the US is seeking as a crucial step to help persuade other countries to send troops and money to secure and rebuild Iraq.
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