Iraqis divided over charter

BAGHDAD -- Shi'ite Muslim members of Iraq's Governing Council walked out of a session to draft an interim constitution yesterday after a dispute over women's rights, exposing deep divisions between the country's two principal religious groups as they seek to form a transitional government.

The walkout by eight of the council's 13 Shi'ite members, the first since the body was formed in July, casts doubt on the council's ability to meet a deadline today set by the Bush administration for drafting an interim constitution. Several members and their aides said the protest provided the clearest indication yet of the wide political gulf between majority Shi'ites, who largely favor a greater role for Islamic law, and minority Sunnis, who prefer a more secular government.

The disagreement stemmed from a decision to vote on a resolution introduced by some Shi'ites that would have imposed Islamic sharia law in adjudicating divorces, inheritances, and other family matters. When the resolution was rejected by Sunni members and a few liberal Shi'ites, two dozen women who had been invited into the council chamber applauded, prompting the eight Shi'ite members, some of them visibly angry, to leave.

"They didn't like it," council member Mahmoud Othman, a Sunni Kurd, said. "The women were cheering, so they got upset and they walked out."

The departure deprived the 25-member council of a quorum and halted work on the drafting of the interim constitution, which was scheduled to begin after the vote. Although it was viewed by some in the chamber as political theater, the walkout was the latest in a series of tense disagreements between Shi'ites and Sunnis about the shape of Iraq's interim government.

Several Shi'ite members have renewed their insistence in recent days that Islamic law be the sole source of legislation, instead of one source among many, as Sunnis and the Bush administration favor. If Islam were to become the sole basis of legislation, some religious moderates fear it could mean the loss of longstanding women's rights and the introduction of punishments such as cutting off a thief's hand.

After years of subjugation under former president Saddam Hussein, Shi'ite members also want to ensure that they retain clear control of the transitional government, which would take over after the US civilian occupation ends June 30. They have insisted that the interim constitution include a provision stating that if the transitional assembly cannot agree on one president -- presumably a Shi'ite -- then there must be five presidents, three of whom must be Shi'ites.

"The Shi'ites want to make sure they are in control," said Ghazi Yawar, a Sunni council member. "Because they consider themselves a majority, they want things their way."

Sunni politicians said they were surprised by the walkout. "It's absurd and unnecessary at this critical juncture," said a top aide to a Sunni council member, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "This is a period where we need to be showing unity and coming to decisions on critical matters. An act of petulance will not serve the people's interest."

The Shi'ite members who staged the walkout could not be reached for comment yesterday. They held meetings late into the night at the residence of council member Ahmed Chalabi, a moderate Shi'ite who has allied himself with Shi'ite conservatives in recent weeks in an apparent attempt to build political support.