Reid hopeful of Iraqi consensus
Defence secretary John Reid has said he believes an Iraqi constitution will be drawn up by the United Nations deadline next week.
His cautious confidence comes as concerns mount about the Iraqi government’s ability to reach a consensus on a draft constitution for the fledgling democracy ahead of the deadline on Monday.
Delegates from the Sunni religious group have been absent from a number of the constitution talks, while a number of Kurdish leaders are calling for recognition of their own region, which some fear would be the beginning of the break-up of the country.
But today Mr Reid said that it looked as if the government would meet the deadline for the constitution – something that would be a “fantastic achievement”.
“All the indications are that there is a real, serious attempt to make sure that it is not only presented but that it is there by the deadline of August 15th,” he told Today,/i>.
“If it is it will be a fantastic achievement. We are dealing with a country where there has been for as long as people can remember, no democratic participation of this nature and where terrorists are doing everything they possibly can to stop it.
“There are three major things that need to be done. One is the establishment of democracy by Iraqis themselves. The second is to take control of the leading role in counter-terrorism through the security forces and the third is to rebuild their infrastructure.”
Mr Reid said that while the discussions still to take place would be “difficult”, there was a “reasonable expectation” that a consensus would be achieved by Monday.
If that occurs, a referendum of all parties is due to take place on the constitution, with a view to holding elections for the first fully democratic Iraqi government by the end of the year.
“If they meet these deadlines it will be a major achievement,” the defence secretary added.
Mr Reid acknowledged that there was still violence in Iraq and civilians were sometimes caught in the crossfire between troops and insurgents, saying it was a “matter of huge regret”.
But he disputed the suggestion put by Prince Hassan of Jordan that civil war had started in Iraq, in particular reports that the Shias, who make up 60 per cent of the Iraqi population, want to break away from Iraq and create their own country.
“They do not want to break away and establish their own republic. Some politicians [do] in the same way that some politicians in Scotland want to break away from the United Kingdom – it doesn’t mean everyone wants to break away in Iraq,” he said.
