Fat chance
US envoy calls for equal rights for women in Iraq constitution
By Thanassis Cambanis, Globe Staff | August 3, 2005
BAGHDAD -- The United States inserted itself squarely into the raucous debate over Iraq's new constitution yesterday when the new ambassador declared that equal rights for women was a fundamental requirement of democracy.
In the 11 days Zalmay Khalilzad has been in Iraq, the US envoy has reversed the embassy's policy of staying in the background of internal Iraqi political disputes, making daily public appearances and pressuring Iraqi politicians in an effort to break the deepening deadlock among constitutional negotiators.
The United States has changed its approach as the clock winds down on an Aug. 15 deadline to complete a draft of the constitution that would be acceptable to all Iraq's sectarian and ethnic groups and would balance secular demands for women's rights and a civilian legal code against the majority Islamists' quest for a religious state.
Several stumbling blocks remain, and the Iraqis have set a Friday deadline for the Constitution Committee -- a group of 71 parliamentarians and unelected Sunni Arabs -- to reach a consensus on questions including women's rights, the role of Islam, and the federal structure of Iraq.
If they don't reach an agreement, political party leaders will take a week to try to resolve the outstanding issues themselves. On Aug. 12, the draft constitution, with or without agreement on key issues, will go before the Transitional National Assembly.
Saleh Mutlak, a lead Sunni Arab negotiator on the Constitutional Committee, said that after the ''unrealistic" Friday deadline, Sunni Arabs would effectively be shut out of a drafting process dominated by Kurds and Shi'ite Arabs.
''They will cook it in a way to make a constitution with no agreement from the Sunni leadership," Mutlak said. ''Today I am pessimistic."
The United States has repeatedly emphasized that without the support of Sunni Arabs, who constitute an important base of support for Iraq's insurgency, any new constitution and ensuing government will be destined for instability or failure.